USDA to unveil $700 Mln drought aid today - reports
Date: 20-Sep-02
Country: USA
The package of aid, aimed at helping drought-stricken
ranchers maintain herds of livestock, was expected at 2:45
p.m. (1885 GMT), according to aides to Rep. John Thune,
South Dakota Republican, who was to join Veneman for the
announcement.
Precise details of the aid plan were not clear but it
apparently would provide direct cash payments. The money
would be drawn from USDA accounts. USDA officials confirmed
the time for the announcement of livestock assistance but
provided no details.
Half of the United States has been struck this year by
drought ranging from mild to severe. In some parts of the
Plains, conditions have been likened to the Dust Bowl era of
the 1930s.
Analysts say action on drought aid might affect this fall's
elections. Some of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats
running for re-election are from farm states, including
South Dakota, where Thune is challenging first-term Democrat
Tim Johnson.
Federal aid would help ranchers maintain breeding herds
until good weather returns. Owners already were culling
herds.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly last week for $6 billion to
compensate producers for crop and livestock losses in 2001
and this year. The administration says there should be
spending cuts to offset that aid. House Republican leaders
agreed there should be offsets in agriculture accounts.
Farm groups said they would welcome administration action to
help ranchers, but a full-scale package was vital.
"We still have to have some assistance for crops," said Mary
Kay Thatcher of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
The National Farmers Union also called for Congress to pass
the $6 billion plan before adjourning this year.
During the summer, USDA announced other steps to help
livestock producers. It opened the land-idling Conservation
Reserve to emergency haying and grazing and offered $150
million in feed assistance to cow-calf ranchers in the
Plains.
