Newhouse, DelBene Call On Vilsack To Do More To Help NW Producers

On Tuesday, western Washington’s Suzan DelBene and central Washington’s Dan Newhouse led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, urging the USDA to open relief programs to more producers that have lost crops or livestock. In response to June’s heatwave, that saw temperatures approach 120 degrees in some locations, Secretary Vilsack issued several disaster designations, unlocking federal resources. However, as the letter points out, many of the producers who suffered the greatest heat-related losses were either located in counties not covered by the drought designations, experienced losses not covered by drought assistance programs, or both.

“Although the extent of damages relating to the extreme heat has yet to be fully determined, agricultural producers expect these impacts to be severe,” the letter stated. “We respectfully request USDA explore all potential flexibilities for additional relief within existing programs and identify other options to deliver federal relief to producers in our states so they have the resources to overcome the extreme drought and heat crisis.”

Reports across the Pacific Northwest and Western states indicate berry crops, tree fruits, grain and pulse crops, potatoes, hops, dairy products, forage crops, wine grapes, nursery crops, poultry, beef cattle, and general livestock experienced excessive heat impacts to yield and quality:

• Raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry farmers have reported widespread losses of 20%-80% of their crops and harm to the canes that will produce next year’s crop.
• Cherry growers in the west have so far lost an estimated 20% of their overall crop.
• Early modeling for shellfish suggests an estimated 1 billion sea creatures died along the Salish Sea’s coastline with reported mortality rates for certain shellfish farmers up to 90 percent.
• For crops including apples and pears, the full extent of losses may not be known until harvest in the fall, or even later if damage manifests in storage.

Click Here to read the entire letter to Vilsack.

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