Hoeven Meets With Johanns To Press For Drought Aid
Hoeven Meets With Johanns To Press For Drought Aid
Governor Continues To Push For Drought Disaster Assistance Bill
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today met with U.S. Department of Agriculture Sec. Mike Johanns in South Dakota and used the occasion to continue his push for federal drought disaster legislation for farmers and ranchers. Following the meeting, Johanns announced that the USDA will provide drought assistance funding from within the agency's discretionary budget for the nation's counties most severely affected by dry weather.
"This is a start, but this drought is severe enough to warrant comprehensive federal drought legislation for our farmers and ranchers," Hoeven said. "Congress needs to appropriate additional funds to give our producers the assistance they need to help maintain their operations."
The measures Johanns announced today would provide North Dakota producers with assistance from three of the USDA's discretionary sources:
* Block grants from USDA Section 32 funds, which are a permanent appropriation used for domestic food programs and disaster relief for farmers. Determination of amounts will be made later in the week.
* $1.38 million in the Grasslands Reserve Program (GRP), which offers landowners an opportunity to protect, restore, and enhance grasslands on their property. This will be used for drought mitigation on grazing lands.
* $411,000 in Emergency Conservation Program funding, which provides emergency cost-share funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures in periods of severe drought. The program will provide water for livestock in drought situations.
"We appreciate Secretary Johanns' coming out to see firsthand the hardship producers are contending with," Hoeven said. "He is doing what he can with the resources he has. At the same time, this is a severe drought, and we will continue our efforts with other governors in affected states to secure comprehensive drought aid from Congress."
Hoeven will travel to Washington, D.C. next month to meet with members of Congress and the Administration to press the case for a drought disaster bill.
http://www.governor.state.nd.us/media/news-releases/2006/08/060829.html