Supporting Communities Suffering from Drought

Supporting Communities Suffering from Drought. I’m Greg Martin with Colorado Ag Today.

On Friday, Governor Hickenlooper was joined by the governors of six western states in a video call with President Obama to discuss the drought. President Obama said he and his Administration are committed to doing everything they can to help the farmers, ranchers, small businesses, and communities facing the severe impacts. In a subsequent conference call with reporters Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment at USDA, Robert Bonnie discussed what agriculture can expect.

BONNIE: In the short-term we have a number of programs we can utilize to assist producers. The Farm Services Agencies Livestock Forage Program is particularly important to help livestock producers who have had significant losses due to drought. Over the last three years we’ve paid out over $4-billion dollars and we expect in ’15 we’ll have significant claims under that program as well. On the Conservation side we’re dedicating about $21-million dollars through the Environmental Quality Incentive Program to help landowners, farmers, ranchers, forest landowners that adopt water conservation practices, prescribed grazing and other things that will help them deal with drought.

White House Senior Advisor, Brian Deese said while there’s no relief in sight the Administration was working to help states affected.

DEESE: The President also talked with the Governors about his determination to meet this serious set of challenges using the full resources and authorities of the federal government.

And that’s Colorado Ag Today. I’m Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.