Today, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA03) applauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement that farmers impacted by natural disaster events in 2020 and 2021, including the 2020 derecho, will soon begin receiving emergency relief payments totaling approximately $6 billion through the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) new Emergency Relief Program (ERP) to offset crop yield and value losses.
“I am pleased to see that Iowa’s farmers will finally get the relief they need after suffering unprecedented losses from the derecho in August 2020,” said Rep. Axne. “Ever since that storm swept across the state – resulting in billions in damage – I’ve fought hard to ensure farmers would have the support they needed from USDA. Unfortunately, Iowans continue to experience dangerous and unprecedented weather, and as unpredictable disasters become much more common, we must act quicker to getting aid out. I’m glad these resources are now available to make farmers whole again.”
Last year, Rep. Axne broke with her party to vote for expanding eligibility of disaster relief programs to include losses from the derecho that hit Iowa on August 10, 2020 and caused widespread damage.
In July, Axne and the House Agriculture Committee passed legislation to cover those agricultural losses through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+).
On September 31, 2021, Rep. Axne voted for the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, which includes $10 billion in assistance to agricultural producers impacted by disasters in 2020 and 2021, including new language to specifically cover derechos. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden on September 30, 2021.
Axne also to advocated for disaster relief in in a bipartisan letter to House leadership in April 2021.
Original source can be found here.
