Mississippi River Hits Low
The Mississippi River has hit a new daily low—the lowest since 1988—dipping below a foot in depth in some places. “It looks like a coastline out there,” Reynold Minsky, president of the 5th Louisiana Levee District board, told The News-Star. “There are more beaches on the river than there are in Florida.” Because of the low levels, navigation has all but come to a halt in most areas....
Read MoreFire Fund- Deadline Extended
***Update*** The deadline for applications for assistance has been extended to August 10th. If you or someone you know were impacted by the fire and have not yet applied for assistance, please do so before August 10th. Only months after the Heartstrong Fire scorched the Yuma area, eastern Colorado went through yet another devastating fire. The Last Chance fire in Washington county...
Read MoreDrought Help For Farmers/Ranchers
The American Farm Bureau Federation on Tuesday expressed appreciation for a series of emergency actions announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to provide much-needed assistance to America’s farm and ranch families suffering from the drought gripping much of the nation. While the announcement will help many farmers and ranchers, there are areas of the United States that may...
Read MoreVilsack Briefs Obama on Drought
Pointing to the depth and severity of the drought that’s dried out much of the nation, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Congress must quickly pass a new farm bill, or at least approve additional disaster programs or provide more flexibility in credit availability. Vilsack met with President Barack Obama on Wednesday to fill him in on what is now the worst drought in 25 years in the...
Read MoreDrought Could be Worst in Years
Some meteorologists are already comparing this year to the drought of 1988, which was estimated to cost American agriculture $78 billion. According to theNationalDroughtMitigationCenter, currently 72 percent of the continentalUnited Statesis classified as “abnormally dry” or worse, compared to 32 percent in June of last year. TheU.S.cattle industry took a huge hit from the drought last...
Read MoreUSDA Reports Focus on Weather
There were no big surprises in two Agriculture Department economic reports released today, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. USDA’s Acreage Report and Grain Stocks Report confirmed AFBF analysts’ expectations that good planting weather has increased soybean acres in the Midwest and old-crop corn inventory is tighter than last year. According to the acreage report, there...
Read MoreLegislative Tracking 2013
