Federal aid for
drought-blighted Calif-Ore border
September 2, 2010
SAN
FRANCISCO -- The federal government has
declared a natural disaster area in the
California-Oregon
border region in an effort to bring relief to
farmers and ranchers stricken by an ongoing
drought, the
U.S. Agriculture
Department announced
Thursday.
The declaration officially labels
California's Siskiyou County as the disaster
area, but low-interest federal loan assistance
will be available to affected farmers and
ranchers throughout nine border counties in
California and
Oregon.
"There's no doubt it's a disaster
here," said Gary Derry, 50, of Malin, Ore., who
says 20 percent of his alfalfa farming operation
has gone dry. "I think that about anything we
can do to help people from losing their land,
having to relocate and get through this year
will certainly be a help."
He said the lost income not only
affects agricultural enterprises, but trickles
into the broader economy.
The heavily agricultural Klamath
Basin area, more than 200 miles from either
Portland, Ore. or Sacramento, has been wracked
by severe drought since March. The region
produces onions, potatoes and grains, among
other crops.
A combination of drought and the
diversion of water to aid federally protected
salmon and sucker fish species have led to a
steep drop in water available to more than 1,000
farms fed by the basin's federal irrigation
project.
"President Obama and I understand
these conditions caused severe damage to small
grains, potatoes and the onion crop and
prevented farmers from being able to harvest
these crops," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
said in a statement. "This action will provide
help to hundreds of farmers who suffered
significant production losses."
Some elected officials saw the
aid as an essential development for farmers.
"The disaster aid will give them
some more flexibility where they can help pay
for assistance for farms that have had to forego
crops this year and also to help as incentives
for people to manage water differently," said
Marcia Armstrong, chair of the Siskiyou County
Board of Supervisors. "If you don't have that
then the entire community, which is based on
agriculture, collapses."
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Source: Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/02/3001817/federal-aid-for-drought-blighted.html