Drought aid for farmers

By JUSTIN HARMON/Staff

Most folks feel a drought with restrictions that might include fewer car washes, turning off the faucet while brushing, that sort of thing.
Dairy farmers, though, feel a drought in the wallet.
Washington County Farm Service Agency Executive Director Ron Hale said the drought that’s been drying up the region over the past three years has had a measured effect on the local dairy farmers. It’s been so bad, he said, that the federal government is stepping in to help ailing dairy farms recover in the form of the Dairy Disaster Assistance Program.
“It’s for anyone who’s had a loss of production due to the drought,” he said.
Fred Copenhaver of the Natural Resources Conservation Services said the biggest problem isn’t that the cows aren’t getting enough water; it’s that the crops that feed the cows aren’t.
Copenhaver said dairy farmers grow corn to feed their dairy cows as it is a high-energy source of food, but their corn production has slacked off.
“It needs a whole lot of moisture,” he said.
According to Copenhaver, 42 inches a year is the average rainfall for the county, but just last year farmers had 28 less inches to work with. Copenhaver said this year hasn’t made up the loss from last year.
Hale said three of the 13 dairies in Washington County have signed up for the program, but could not disclose information.
While the program is a little hard to understand, Hale explains that any dairy farmer who suffered a loss between 2005 and 2007 is eligible for compensation as long as losses are greater than 20 percent of a baseline production value. Hale said farmers who don’t exceed the 20 percent but still suffered losses are still eligible, but they’re not guaranteed payment as there is only $16 million in the nationwide program.
Hale said that 2003 and 2004 were the years used to calculate the baseline production value since the government deemed it fair to everyone nationwide.
Another similar program, the Livestock Compensation Program is geared toward beef cattle farmers as well as dairy farmers, but according to Hale, the biggest difference is that the farmers won’t be compensated for all three years of low production due to the drought, but one of their choosing. Compensation in this program is $10 a head for beef cattle and $27 a head for dairy cattle. The deadline for the Dairy Disaster Assistance Program has already passed. The deadline for the Livestock Compensation Program hasn’t been set yet.
With only $16 million to go around the entire country, the Dairy Disaster Assistance Program may not be enough to bail failing farms out.
According to Copenhaver, the number of dairy farms is on the decline, and not just due to drought. He said that the cost of diesel fuel, fertilizer and even labor is helping put privately owned dairies out of business. This is coupled with the fact that many dairy farmers are getting older and can’t do the same work they’ve been doing for years.
“It takes more labor,” he said. “It’s more labor-intensive than any other farming.”
Justin Harmon can be reached at 628-7101 or