From staff reports WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and 13 other Democratic senators are pressing for assurances that assistance for economic challenges in 2024 and natural disasters in 2023 and 2024 will be provided to all farmers— including row crop and specialty crop farmers—as quickly as possible. The senators emphasized the need for farmers to receive this aid as they make decisions for spring planting season.
In a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, the senators wrote: “Farmers are making decisions right now about fertilizer usage and their crop mix and are working with their bankers to figure out if they can secure the financing they need to continue farming this year. Without the timely delivery of economic and disaster assistance, farmers face the prospect of reducing plantings or liquidating assets to remain in business as they head into another potentially difficult growing season.”
The senators continued, “The American Relief Act included a detailed formula for determining economic loss, which was intended in part to speed implementation. During implementation, we ask that you engage with impacted farmers and other groups, particularly regarding the implementation of the per-acre payment rates for commodities. We urge you to use the precedent of previous ad hoc programs to simplify the experience for farmers by leveraging existing loss data and to pre-fill applications for producers.”
The letter was joined by Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).