White House Response to the Drought

Last week, President Obama convened his White House Rural Council for one of a continuing series of policy meetings to review Executive Branch response actions and to develop additional policy initiatives to assist drought stricken communities, farmers, ranchers, and small businesses.  Following the meeting, the White House announced several new measures the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other federal agencies are taking to help those impacted by drought.

Some of the relief efforts being provided include:

• USDA will utilize nearly $16 million in financial and technical assistance to immediately help crop and livestock producers in 19 states cope with the adverse impacts of the drought. In addition, USDA will transfer $14 million in unobligated program funds into the Emergency Conservation Program to assist in moving water and food to livestock in need and to rehabilitate land severely impacted by the drought.
• The National Credit Union Administration will allow an additional 1,000 Credit Unions to increase their lending to small businesses.
• The Small Business Administration, along with USDA and the Department of Commerce will host community outreach events.
• The Department of the Interior will provide additional grazing flexibility on federal lands.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation will grant emergency waivers for federal truck weight regulations and hours of service requirements to drought-stricken communities.
• USDA will allow farmers to apply this year’s crop indemnity payments toward their crop insurance premiums for the following crop year. As of this month, the 16 major providers of crop insurance have all agreed to forego interest charges on unpaid premiums through November.
• USDA is lowering the interest rate on its emergency loans, which help producers recover from production and physical losses associated with natural disasters, from 3.75 percent to 2.25 percent.

The measures the Administration has taken are extremely important but only a temporary fix. As my colleague Jennifer Imo  discussed earlier this week, Congress still needs to pass a comprehensive, multi-year farm bill when they return in September.  Only a comprehensive plan will  provide the complete disaster assistance that these  farmers and ranchers need and deserve.