releases: http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=d29279f6-5203-4815-8dc7-80f0241e04b3
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/in-the-news?ContentRecord_id=d29279f6-5203-4815-8dc7-80f0241e04b3 | Argus Leader: Help for ranchers in blizzard limited, USDA chief says | 2013-10-18 | 2013 | 2013-10 | Republican | House | SD | Kristi Noem | N000184 | noem.house.gov | legacy | By Christopher Doering U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday the administration can provide only limited help to livestock owners devastated by the early October snowstorm in western South Dakota, instead placing the onus on Congress to pass a new farm bill before ranchers will see any meaningful assistance. To help producers, Vilsack said the USDA is reopening offices operated by its Farm Service Agency that were shuttered after Republicans and Democrats were unable to come to an agreement to fund the government, leading to a two-week shutdown that ended late Wednesday night. Michael Scuse, undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, will be in South Dakota on Monday to visit FSA offices and meet with producers to let them know they can submit documents showing their losses from the storm. But ranchers will not receive any compensation until a new farm bill is in place. The USDA was given the authority to operate livestock disaster assistance programs in the 2008 farm bill, but the authority expired Sept. 30, 2011. "In terms of being able to provide significant financial assistance, we really have to have Congress get its job done by getting a farm bill passed and making sure that in that farm bill is a livestock disaster assistance program” to help ranchersaffectedby the weather the past two years, Vilsack said in an interview. “To the producers who have suffered through this difficult time, our hearts go out to them. I wish we had the programs in place." Vilsack said for now there is little the White House can do to help ranchers without a farm law. The department plans to work closely with state health officials to make sure dead animals are disposed of properly. Officials also plan to provide information about low-interest disaster assistance loans that might be available to livestock owners. The early October blizzard pounded the western part of South Dakota, including the Black Hills, with as much as 4 feet of snow. The storm knocked out power for many residents and left tens of thousands of livestock dead. For many ranchers, some who lost their entire herds, the heavy snow came one year after the state was hit with a widespread drought that forced some livestock owners to shrink their operations rather than pay high feed prices. During the shutdown, Republicans Sen. John Thune and Rep. Kristi Noem prodded the USDA to reopen FSA offices in areas hit by the storm, deeming them essential for local producers. Throughout the federal government, employees deemed essential stayed on the job during the shutdown. Thune and Noem said the offices needed to be opened to answer questions that ranchers might have about aid programs that will be available once a farm bill is passed so they know what documents to keep. Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson said ending the shutdown is the first step to getting relief to those affected by the storm. Johnson, who will be touring the western part of the state with Scuse next week to see the devastation first hand, was critical of those who voted to shut down the government. "I was surprised that many of the people in Congress who forced the government shutdown were the people who complained most when the government wasn’t able, by law, to meet the needs of South Dakota’s ranchers," he said. USDA said the closure of the government prevented the agency from reopening the offices, a stance Vilsack reiterated again Thursday. "Despite our compassion for producers, we can’t ignore what the law basically says," said Vilsack, who greeted USDA employees arriving to work earlier in the day. Thune and Noem remained skeptical Thursday that the USDA didn’t have the authority. Thune expressed frustration that the USDA did not reinstate personnel in FSA offices "during this critical time." Noem added: "Clearly, it is a good thing that our FSA offices are open, though I believe USDA did have the authority to open them earlier and I wish they would have done so." In an interview, Noem said she has put all her effort into passing a farm bill and she "remains committed to getting it done." She is a member of the Senate-House panel of lawmakers charged with crafting one final piece of legislation to be voted on by each chamber. Conferees are in the early stages of working on a farm bill and could hold additional meetings as soon as next week. The most recent farm bill expired Sept. 30, ending several food aid, rural development and agricultural programs, among others. Food stamps, subsidy payments and crop insurance programs remain in place. Read the story here. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |