Iowa hay and forage producers are being pushed out of the federal government’s permanent disaster assistance program, according to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.
The senator, in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, says that the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments’ valuation on hay and forage is too high for many farmers to recoup any losses from the historic floods in 2008.
“I’ve received a number of calls from Iowa farmers who are rightly upset that they are being shut out of any assistance because of an unsightly high price that was set for alfalfa in the permanent disaster program,” Grassley said in the letter. “If the Farm Service Agency could make this change for these Iowa farmers to more fairly reflect the conditions in the state, it would be a tremendous help.”
Grassley says that the Farm Service Agency has the authority to adjust the National Average Market Price to better reflect regional variations.