USDA EXTENDS ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE TO UPPER-MIDWEST FLOOD VICTIMS Release No. 0135.97 Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623 tom.amontree@usda.gov Johna Pierce (202) 720-4623 johna.pierce@usda.gov USDA EXTENDS ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE TO UPPER-MIDWEST FLOOD VICTIMS WASHINGTON, April 24, 1997--At a meeting today with Members of Congress from Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced additional assistance for the flood victims in the upper Midwest. After touring flooded areas with President Clinton on April 22, Glickman said, "Seeing the devastation firsthand left no question that this is a situation where everyone has got to dig down real deep and help in every way humanly possible. Many farmers won't have water for some time. Ranchers are desperately trying to maintain their livestock. This is a critical stage in their recovery. "USDA will show maximum flexibility and will commit maximum resources -- from food assistance, to farm aid, to personnel and vehicles," Glickman said. "Our Number One priority will be helping affected farmers, ranchers, and rural residents get through this crisis." AGRICULTURAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE USDA has taken immediate action where possible to assist farmers and ranchers affected by flooding in the upper Midwest and will continue to assess and reevaluate -- both the scope of the disaster and the assistance offered. USDA will extend the Foundation Livestock Relief Program for 15 days and make cost-share assistance retroactive to February 26, 1997. Cost-share assistance will be limited to a daily allowance for a period not to exceed 15 days. A request to allow grazing on Conservation Reserve Program lands has been approved and emergency grazing will be allowed, beginning May 1, with associated payment reduction. USDA will make a decision regarding CRP haying sometime after June 1. USDA will issue an interim rule to allow Farm Service Agency borrowers in federally declared disaster areas to defer payment to the end of their loan even if they have already used this deferral allowance. Secretary Glickman has directed the FSA State Directors to use their discretionary authority to mitigate the initiation of foreclosure proceedings. USDA will also provide counseling and primary loan servicing to any borrower who wishes to completely restructure their existing loans. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is assisting the Army Corps of Engineers with engineering surveys of temporary levees, and has set aside about $200,000 for removal of debris from streams. USDA has made its employees and vehicles available for emergency recovery needs. In addition, USDA is considering the following range of options to provide long-term assistance to producers suffering adverse impacts from the natural disaster: Emergency Farm Loans: In counties declared by the President or designated by the Secretary as disaster areas, USDA's Farm Service Agency can make low-interest loans to eligible family farmers to help them recover from the loss of production or physical losses. There is about $46 million available in this fund today. The Administration has requested an additional $60 million be included in the disaster supplemental bill for this program. USDA will include death losses, injuries reducing the value of breeding animals, damage to buildings, fences and equipment, and reduced rates of calving and weight gain, and crop or pasture losses as reimbursable in the emergency farm loan program. Current laws do not permit USDA to include increased expenses such as fuel, feed, and veterinary expenses as allowable losses in the emergency farm loan program. USDA will send special teams of loan specialists into the region to process loan applications as expeditiously as possible. USDA officials are working with FEMA to address the problem of carcass removal. FEMA today issued guidance on this issue and will reimburse state and federal entities that perform this function. However, costs incurred by individual farmers and ranchers will not be reimbursed. About 90 percent of the acreage in the affected states is covered by Federal crop insurance. USDA stands behind these policies and intends to pay on them. The preliminary estimate, assuming losses as bad as those in 1995, is about $160 million in prevented planting alone. Some producers are concerned about increased insurance costs because of repeated multi-year losses. USDA is conducting a review on the Non-standard Classification System to ensure that farmers who suffered losses due to natural disasters beyond their control are not unfairly affected. EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE USDA's Food and Consumer Service is working closely with cooperating state agencies in North Dakota, Minnesota, and South Dakota and with voluntary relief agencies to ensure that the food assistance needs of disaster victims are being met. Over 600,000 pounds of food -- 12 tractor-trailer truckloads -- has been delivered to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army in the Red River Valley area, which includes East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Eight counties in North Dakota are operating emergency food stamp programs, providing 420 people in 134 households with $31,041 in benefits. More requests are likely once damage assessments are completed. In Minnesota, six counties are operating an emergency food stamp program and have provided 171 people in 51 households with $15,891 in enefits to date. South Dakota has not submitted a request for an emergency food stamp program and has not used any commodities, but that status is expected to change. RURAL DEVELOPMENT DISASTER ASSISTANCE USDA Rural Development can provide the following assistance to eligible individuals, businesses, and communities: Borrowers who have homes financed by USDA that have been affected by a natural disaster may request to have their mortgage payments suspended temporarily; Eligible borrowers living in communities declared Presidential Disaster Areas may apply for low-interest housing loans under the Single Family Housing Program; Communities with populations of 50,000 or less that have had community facilities destroyed or damaged by disasters may apply for assistance under the Community Facilities Program; Rural communities that have damaged water or waste water systems by disasters may apply for assistance under the Emergency Community Water Assistance Program; and Businesses that have been damaged or destroyed may apply for assistance under the Rural Business Cooperative Service. OTHER ASSISTANCE Extension agents in the area are prepared to offer homeowners advice on food safety, how to purify drinking water, and how to clean and repair damage to housing caused by flooding. USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline is available for advice from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (1-800-535-4555) to assist consumers with questions on the proper handling and storage of meat, poultry, and food products. # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov