The House Agriculture Committee has approved a bipartisan bill to address natural disasters in 2020 and 2021.
Rep. Cindy Axne, D-IA, and her colleagues on the House Agriculture Committee advanced bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus to cover agricultural losses from natural disasters the past two years.
The 2020 WHIP+ Reauthorization Act also includes language to ensure losses related to the 2020 derecho are covered, a fix the congresswoman has pushed for over the past year.
“Last year, Iowans learned the name of a new kind of threat to our communities: the derecho. In a matter of minutes, extreme winds tore through our state—devastating our communities and damaging hundreds of thousands of acres of crops just before harvest,” Axne said in a news release issued July 27. “Iowans have been resilient in rebuilding after that terrible day—and I’ve been working in Washington ever since to ensure that our federal disaster programs are in place to make our communities, families, and farmers whole again. This bill that we passed today is long overdue, and includes the changes I’ve been pushing for. I’m pleased to see bipartisan support for this key step to helping those still needing assistance and protecting our communities from future disasters.”
The legislation would authorize $8.5 billion for the WHIP+ to cover losses from 2020 and 2021 disasters. In addition to expanding the program to cover losses from derechos, the legislation would expand the drought trigger for counties from at least D3 conditions to also include counties with D2 drought conditions of at least eight consecutive weeks.
Currently, there are 22 Iowa counties experiencing such conditions.
The National Sorghum Producers applauded the move as it complements crop insurance and includes extreme cold and drought such as the polar vortex in Texas earlier in the year.
“We are extremely grateful to see the House Agriculture Committee working in a bipartisan effort to provide essential support to not only sorghum producers, but all of America’s farmers and ranchers who have been detrimentally affected by natural disasters,” National Sorghum Producers Chairman Kody Carson, a sorghum farmer from Olton, Texas, said in a news release. “Sorghum producers had a challenging 2020 dealing with severe drought on the High Plains that crept into 2021. Currently, in a disaster that is still developing, farmers in South Texas and the Gulf Coast are struggling to get their crop out and salvage its value given torrential rains. The extension of WHIP+ into 2020 and 2021 improves upon the existing program and will offer much needed assistance during a particularly challenging, high cost and high stakes time for agriculture. We commend the members of the committee for recognizing the needs of producers and expediting this much needed legislation, and NSP is committed to providing support throughout the process.”
Earlier this year, Axne broke with her party to vote for expanding eligibility of disaster relief programs to include losses from the 2020 derecho.
Axne also previously advocated for reauthorizing and fully funding the WHIP+ program, a priority she articulated to House leadership in a bipartisan letter in April.
Axne has made supporting victims of natural disasters in Iowa a top priority in Congress.
Only a few months into her first term, Iowa communities along the Missouri River experienced devastating flooding—destroying homes, businesses and farmland.
Dave Bergmeier can be reached at 620-227-1822 or [email protected].
