Donnelly urges USDA to grant disaster declaration for Indiana counties impacted by excessive rainfall

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Published: Friday, 31 July 2015 16:01

Senator expresses support for declaration to make resources available to counties dealing with crop damage and losses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, who serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee, sent a letter Friday (July 31) to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack urging USDA to grant a disaster declaration for 53 of Indiana’s 92 counties impacted by excessive rainfall. 

Donnelly wrote the letter in strong support of the joint request from Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann (see accompanying article) along with executive director of Indiana’s Farm Service Agency Julia Wickard.

Donnelly wrote, “Much of Indiana has experienced excessive and prolonged rainfall, beginning in May and continuing to fall at record-breaking rates through the present. The extreme levels of rain have caused irreparable damage to planted fields and rendered others unplantable throughout the state. Thousands of farmers in Indiana are going to experience significant financial losses this year and this will be a particularly difficult time for young and limited resource farmers. I would appreciate your immediate and favorable consideration of a disaster declaration for these counties so that resources can be made available to help deal with these crops losses.”

Donnelly’s letter comes after he visited Merritt Farm in early July in Peru to get a first-hand view of the effect excess rain is having on crops and farmers.

Full text of the letter to Secretary Vilsack follows. To see a PDF of the signed copy, click here.

                                                                                                                July 31, 2015

The Honorable Thomas J. Vilsack

Secretary of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

Washington, DC 20250

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

I am writing to express my strong support for the joint request from Indiana’s Governor, Lt. Governor, and Executive Director of Indiana’s Farm Service Agency for a disaster declaration for 53 of Indiana’s 92 counties. Much of Indiana has experienced excessive and prolonged rainfall, beginning in May and continuing to fall at record-breaking rates through the present.

The extreme levels of rain have caused irreparable damage to planted fields and rendered others unplantable throughout the state. Tens of thousands of acres still have living plants, but will only produce a portion of the typical yield due to poor root development and interruptions to fertilizer and herbicide application patterns. 

Thousands of farmers in Indiana are going to experience significant financial losses this year and this will be a particularly difficult time for young and limited resource farmers. I would appreciate your immediate and favorable consideration of a disaster declaration for these counties so that resources can be made available to help deal with these crops losses.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly

State requests Secretarial disaster declaration for 53 Indiana counties due to crop damage, losses caused by flooding

Request includes Pulaski, Cass, Jasper, Starke counties

INDIANAPOLIS – In a letter sent earlier this week to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, Gov. Mike Pence requested a secretarial disaster declaration for 53 of Indiana’s 92 counties due to crop damage and losses caused by flooding and excessive rain since May 1 of this year.

“Recent and unprecedented heavy rainfall across our state has had a significant impact on the yield of Indiana crops and our Hoosier farmers,” said Pence. “As promised, our administration has been closely monitoring this situation and, in coordination with the Indiana Farm Service Agency, has determined federal emergency loan assistance is both prudent and warranted. Hoosier farmers can be assured that we will continue to keep a close eye on the long-term effects of this year’s heavy rains and, as needed, work to identify additional help for those in our state’s agriculture industry.”

In 50 counties, reported crop damage and losses have met or exceeded 30 percent of a crop, and three counties have experienced a significant number of damages and losses to multiple crops. Under a disaster designation, low-interest emergency loans will be made available to all producers suffering losses in that county, as well as in counties contiguous to a disaster-designated county. A list of all 53 counties can be found attached.

Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, Secretary of Agriculture in Indiana, and Julia A. Wickard, Indiana FSA state executive director, joined the governor in signing the letter.

“The record-setting rainfall this summer throughout much of Indiana has caused many Hoosier farmers to experience significant crops losses,” said Ellspermann. “Fields are flooded by overflowing streams or covered by standing water from drenching rain.  We are very grateful for the strong cooperation of the Farm Service Administration in expediting this special Secretarial disaster declaration request.”  

“It is important this request is a joint effort by the state and federal government, and I appreciate the working relationship we have in the State of Indiana,” said Wickard, Indiana FSA state executive director.

Hoosier farmers are encouraged to continue to submit crop damage reports to their county FSA offices as the disaster event is ongoing and continued monitoring is necessary to determine if additional counties should be added to the declaration request.

Indiana Counties included in Disaster Declaration