The governor’s drought plan
After touring a farm this morning Gov. Pawlenty announced some steps he will take to try to help farmers get state and local aid. Here's part of what his office said:
Pawlenty announced that he will promptly request an agricultural disaster declaration for any county that meets the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s threshold of more than a 30 percent crop loss. Last week, the governor requested USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to begin a formal damage assessment of drought impacted counties as the first step toward a possible federal disaster declaration. The USDA State Emergency Board is meeting on Thursday, August 2 to make a recommendation to the governor following its review of damage reports.
The governor also said that he will urge Congress to allow farmers to claim losses from crop year 2007 as part of the recently passed agricultural disaster assistance package that currently allows for assistance for the 2005 or 2006 crop year.
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