Senator John Hoeven, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee, today issued the following statement after the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved the Senate’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations bill with more than $7 billion in disaster assistance to help farmers and ranchers with losses due to drought and other natural disasters.
“Our agriculture appropriations legislation, with more than $7 billion in disaster assistance for our producers, is now advancing to the full Senate for consideration,” said Hoeven. “We worked to include strong disaster assistance funding in the bill to help our farmers and ranchers through this tough stretch of severe drought and other natural disasters. At the same time, the legislation will help to meet the needs of rural America, including fully funding farm loans to provide producers with access to capital, strong support for agricultural research and continued investment in rural broadband. We’re one step closer to getting this legislation, and these vital disaster resources, signed into law.”
The legislation now advances to the full Senate for consideration. Specifically, Ranking Member Hoeven secured the following disaster assistance provisions:
- $6.28 billion in disaster assistanceto aid producers who suffered losses due to droughts, hurricanes, wildfires, floods and other qualifying disasters. The funding will extend WHIP+ to cover losses in calendar years 2020 and 2021.
- $750 million for livestock producers for losses incurred during 2021 due to drought or wildfire. This disaster assistance will build on top of existing farm bill programs for livestock producers.
Hoeven worked to secure additional priorities for North Dakota’s producers and rural communities, including:
- Making livestock markets more fair and transparent:
- A provision establishing a pilot program for a cattle contract library at the Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS). The contract library would help improve price transparency in cattle markets and comes as part of Hoeven’s efforts to ensure ranchers have access to fair and competitive markets.
- An additional $2 million for AMS to enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act.
Press Release from Hoeven’s Office
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