August 13, 2002

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman has announced that $150 million in supplemental feed is being made available to farmers and ranchers operating cow-calf operations in areas most severely stricken by drought. She also reiterated that the Bush Administration would support emergency assistance for drought-stricken producers and pledged to work with the Congress upon return from recess to complete legislation.

Veneman said that while the Administration continues to provide immediate relief through various programs, including crop insurance, any assistance should meet certain criteria, including being funded through budget offsets and targeted to producers who are most in need, particularly those without access to additional risk management tools.

She also said the President has asked her to examine additional risk management tools for forage and pasture crops, including crop insurance, that might be available in an expedited manner to assist livestock producers suffering from the drought.

Under the new program, states initially eligible will be Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. At least 75% of the pasture and range crop in these states is currently rated as poor or very poor. USDA will provide assistance only for future purchases of feed for beef cow-calf operations, and not for past expenses.

USDA will work in cooperation with feed mills to help distribute the supplemental feed. USDA will make available existing stocks of non-fat dry milk to be used in the production of feed. Currently, USDA has over 1.4 billion pounds of non fat dry milk in storage, of which one third is two years old or older. Stocks older than three years are unusable for human consumption.

For detailed information on all programs, producers should contact or visit their USDA Service Center, or Farm Service Agency County Office or visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/. Producers may also contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service offices or visit http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/.