U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) and a bipartisan group of senators is urging U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to provide assistance for livestock producers who suffered devastating losses earlier this year during severe weather events across the Rocky Mountains, the Plains, the Mississippi Valley, and the Great Lakes regions.
“The extreme conditions our ranchers faced this winter led to real losses,” said Sen. Hoeven, who serves as a member of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.
In a letter to Perdue dated March 27 and led by U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the senators asked for assistance through the USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). That program provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather.
The senators also requested that the USDA delegate LIP approval authority to Farm Service Agency (FSA) County Committees. County committees are in the best position to understand local weather, disaster events, and the livestock management practices of area farmers and ranchers, the senators said.
“These payments are needed to help ranchers recover and maintain their operations,” Sen. Hoeven said. “That’s why we’re pressing Secretary Perdue to ensure the payments are issued as soon as possible, and delegating this authority to the FSA County Committees is an important step in making that happen.”
In addition to Sens. Hoeven and Thune, the letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Jon Tester (D-MT), among others.