|
Disaster aid — or the lack of it — was a bone of contention at a hearing Tuesday on the Trump administration’s $95 billion supplemental funding request.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was almost a bystander at the hearing, which featured plenty of tense exchanges between senators and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But while the supplemental request of $88 billion includes about $67 billion for the military, there’s also $11.1 billion for farmers — $10 billion earmarked for row crop producers who continue to struggle with high input costs and low commodity prices, and another $1.1 billion for Florida growers hit by a hard freeze this past winter.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, who will certainly have a say over what goes into any supplemental funding bill, pressed Rollins on aid for Maine farmers.
“In Maine, Many of our producers are struggling amid a combination of market volatility and disaster conditions last year, [including] excessive rainfall in the spring, followed by a severe drought,” Collins told Rollins. “They need relief.”
Specifically, she said she wanted to make sure that “any assistance is structured to meet the needs both of row and specialty crop producers, such as we have in Maine.”
Asked what her thinking was behind the proposed disaster aid, Rollins said discussions between USDA and the Office of Management and Budget were continuing but added, “We are obviously 100% in support of any sort of disaster relief program for our farmers, whether it's hurricane, tornado, drought, freeze, etc.”
“There's a lot of farmers, a lot of producers who are really hurting, not just in Florida and not just from the freeze. So it's important that we work together to solve for that.”
Collins wasn’t the only senator concerned about disaster funding. Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed took note of the $10 billion for row croppers but said that many blue states, including his, have sought disaster declarations and been denied.
“February we had the worst snowstorm in our recent history, and we've been denied by the president,” Reed said. “If you look at the numbers, 20% of blue states seem to get approved and about 80% of red states. I'm making a point, not asking a question.”
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., expressed concern about the lack of any funding for rebuilding in areas of California damaged by wildfires.
“No disaster-impacted community, regardless of where it is located, should ever be held hostage or treated as a bargaining chip for other political priorities,” he said.
Rollins told the committee the supplemental request of $10 billion was necessary to help get the farm economy to a better place while the Trump administration continues working to implement trade deals, which she acknowledged "will take time to fully execute and generate even more exports."
In its latest agricultural trade outlook report, the Economic Research Service projected the ag trade deficit would fall from $43.7 billion in fiscal 2025 to $29 billion in the current fiscal year.
Rollins also told Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., she agreed with him that the prevented planting buy-up option should be reinstated. USDA’ s Risk Management Agency eliminated the option in November. It allows producers to pay slightly higher premiums to qualify for indemnity payments 5% higher than the basic coverage.
“We are 100% supportive of that and are moving forward to execute that buy-up option,” she said.
This story has been corrected with the correct overall request for the supplemental.
