Not all farmers eligible for relief program

Farmers who didn't have crop insurance going into the 2007 growing season are now out of luck when it comes to getting relief for crop losses due to the year's bad weather.

Recent legislation authorized a crop disaster payment program for losses suffered during the 2007 growing season -- one that saw a deep April freeze destroy much of the area's wheat crop and a summer drought that devastated nonirrigated soybeans.

Producers can apply for the program now if they suffered losses of 35 percent or more, but only if they have crop insurance.

That leaves some producers without an avenue to recoup those losses.

Friedheim, Mo., producer Darrell Hahs is one of those growers. He didn't see the need for crop disaster insurance going into the season, and didn't know going into the season that he would need insurance to get disaster payments. The requirement of insurance was in place before the recent legislation authorized payments for warm-weather 2007 crops, but Hahs said he and other producers weren't aware of the requirement.

Most farmers will be notified in the coming days of their eligibility to enroll in the disaster payment program. The program provides payments for losses from basically any natural causes, like the local freeze and drought, said Terry Birk, director of the Cape Girardeau County office of the USDA Farm Service Agency, the government entity responsible for distributing the payments.

The misunderstanding might come from previous practices. Before the current program -- which will pay farmers for losses in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons -- crop insurance wasn't a requirement to get disaster payments.

But in a move to encourage more farmers to get crop insurance and reduce the need for costly disaster programs, Congress included a requirement that producers have crop insurance in the legislation authorizing the program for the first time.

Hahs said his wheat and soybean crops produced half the yield they normally do. In many years, the loss would be devastating, but this year his operation will float through thanks to high prices on the commodities market.

"I'm just glad we had a good corn crop," Hahs said. He hopes his speaking out will inform other farmers that they need crop insurance in order to lessen their losses in future years.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182