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Durbin to Propose Legislation to Provide Relief to Farmers Facing Drought Conditions in Illnois

Date: July 22, 2005
Location: Chicago, IL
Issues: Agriculture and Food


DURBIN TO PROPOSE LEGISLATION TO PROVIDE RELIEF TO FARMERS FACING DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) said he will offer legislation to help provide relief to Illinois farmers grappling with the most serious drought in many years. Today, Durbin wrote to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, asking the Secretary to join him in a visit to an Illinois farm to see the extreme drought conditions at his earliest convenience. Durbin also sent a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development, making them aware of his intention to offer an amendment to the Senate Fiscal Year 2006 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which is likely to be debated in the Senate after the August recess.

In the letters to Sec. Johanns and Chairman Robert Bennett (R-UT) and Ranking Member Herb Kohl (D-WI), Durbin outlined his concerns about the extreme drought conditions:

"The period from March to June of this year was the third driest in Illinois since 1895. Precipitation has been almost 50 percent below average statewide rainfall. Combined with unusually high temperatures during the month of June, the lack of precipitation has caused serious harm to this year's harvest. The National Agriculture Statistics Service recently rated 55 percent of the state's corn as very poor or poor and 36 percent of the state's soybeans as very poor to poor.

"Illinois is the second largest producer of corn and the leading producer of soybeans. Although we will not fully know the extent of the damage incurred by this year's drought until harvest time, current data suggests that producers will face extreme hardship. Many predict that conditions will worsen as the season progresses, especially in North Eastern and North Central Illinois. These conditions are especially alarming because farmers are at a critical point in the growing season," Durbin wrote.

http://durbin.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=241371&&

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