Nebraska Ag Connection - Lawmakers Want USDA to Cover Irrigation Loss; Perdue Here Today

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Lawmakers Want USDA to Cover Irrigation Loss; Perdue Here Today
Nebraska Ag Connection - 08/23/2019

Nebraskans U.S. Senators Ben Sasse and Senator Deb Fischer, Wyoming U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, along with each respective state's U.S. representative -- Adrian Smith and Liz Cheney announced Thursday they wrote to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, seeking crop insurance protection for producers hurt by the collapse of the Gering-Ft. Laramie-Goshen irrigation canal tunnel.

"On behalf of the producers in Wyoming and Nebraska," wrote the lawmakers, "we request USDA Risk Management Agency evaluate available reports and make a prompt determination to qualify these extraordinary circumstances as an insurable event resulting from adverse weather conditions and failure of the irrigation water supply for purposes of crop insurance coverage."

Before the collapse, the Gering-Ft. Laramie-Goshen irrigation canal tunnel transported water to more than 100,000 acres of land in Western Nebraska and Wyoming. The canal was built in 1910.

"This should be pretty simple. This is a qualifying event to be covered by crop insurance, and Nebraskans are suffering right now. This is a big deal for farmers in Nebraska's Panhandle -- Secretary Perdue knows just how important Nebraska's ag producers are to our nation. I urge the Department of Agriculture to move quickly to give farmers and ranchers relief. A lot of folks will go bankrupt unless the Risk Management Agency does what's right," said Sasse.

Meanwhile, Perdue is in Nebraska today. With Governor Pete Ricketts and Smith, Perdue will tour Cyclone Farms near Waco beginning at 8 a.m. CT before heading to the Nebraska State Fair to participate in a disaster relief roundtable with Ricketts, members of the Nebraska congressional delegation, and several Nebraska agriculture representatives. It takes place at 10 a.m. CT in the board room of the Nebraska Building at the state fair in Grand Island.

Perdue will then hold a town hall meeting for farmers and ranchers. The meeting takes place at 11:45 a.m. CT in the Raising Nebraska Pavilion at state fair.

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