Brattleboro Reformer: 'Welch, Gibson Introduce New Bill to Help Flooded Farms'

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By Chris Garofolo

U.S. Rep. Peter Welch joined fellow House member Chris Gibson on Wednesday to introduce bipartisan legislation to aid farmers currently ineligible for disaster assistance.Welch, a Vermont Democrat, sponsored the legislation after learning that farmers affected by Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28 are ineligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture disaster assistance because they did not have crop insurance when the storm hit, a requirement under current law.

The bill, House Resolution No. 2905, would temporarily waive the requirement and allows farmers access to USDA assistance. To take advantage of the waiver, farmers would have to purchase crop insurance.

The legislation temporarily suspends risk management requirements for the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE), Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, & Farm-raised Fish (ELAP) and Tree Assistance Program (TAP).

"Many Vermont farms, big and small, were completely devastated by this once-in-a-century storm," Welch said in a statement. "These farms are integral to Vermont and we need to get them the help they need. In the short term, this legislation will help Vermont farmers get back on their feet. In the long term, it will strengthen Vermont's farming industry by ensuring our farmers' crops are insured in future disasters."

In an office statement provided to the Times Union of Albany, N.Y., the New York Republican said many farmers suffered significant crop, livestock, and structural losses as a result of devastating flooding in the last two weeks."As I traveled the 20th Congressional District speaking with farmers and working with the New York Farm Bureau on ways to assist those impacted, it became clear that many of our family farms wouldn't qualify for aid under the USDA programs," Gibson said. "Ultimately, long-term structural changes need to be made to these assistance programs to make them more effective, but in the shortterm, the small farms that make up our rural communities need immediate relief. This legislation allows New York farms to get the disaster relief they need to remain open - and rebuild."

If the legislation passes, farmers in all 14 Vermont counties would become eligible to apply for the waiver.

Meanwhile, applications for Vermonters are now available for the state's Farm Disaster Relief Fund, which was created by the Agency of Agriculture and the Vermont Community Foundation.

The fund, established to address the needs of farmers following Irene, will pool contributions from donors and make grants directly to the agriculture industry.

Grants of up to $10,000 are available to farmers to help replace infrastructure, seed, feed, livestock and other supplies.

"Although farmers are still reporting losses, a rough estimate of farmland impacted by Irene exceeds 10,000 acres; a conservative estimate of crop losses and crop land damage needing repair exceeds $10 million dollars," said Chuck Ross, Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, in a statement. "These funds will help farmers who have sustained losses to begin to get back on their feet."

The first deadline for applications is Sept. 19 and the second deadline is Sept. 30. Applications are available on the Vermont Community Foundation's website (www.vermontcf.org).

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