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Lincoln introduces farm assistance bill Saturday, Oct 1, 2005 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- A bill that would offer federal payments to farmers hit by drought, gasoline prices and hurricane damages was introduced Friday in the U.S. Senate. Farmers who can prove they lost 35 percent or more in crop production would qualify, according to the proposal. "Now that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have taken their catastrophic toll on the Gulf Coast, the need for economic disaster assistance for our agriculture producers couldn't be greater," bill sponsor Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said in a statement. In Arkansas, gas pricing and Hurricane Katrina have caused an estimated $905 million loss in net farm income in 2005, according to a University of Arkansas Agriculture Extension Service report cited by Lincoln. The bill also would offer an additional payment to producers who live in or near declared disaster areas. It includes assistance for livestock farmers, fruit and vegetable growers and sugarcane farmers in the Gulf Coast hurt by Katrina. Lincoln, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said she had asked the Congressional Budget Office to estimate the cost of the bill. The Arkansas Farm Bureau supports the legislation, said Warren Carter, director of commodity and regulatory affairs "This is something that is needed here," Carter said. Carter said a drought combined with the hurricanes and gasoline price spikes are affecting the state's farmers. The drought increases production costs for the 70 percent of the state's crops that are irrigated, including rice, soybeans and cotton, he said. -- 30 -- |
