Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, joined her Senate colleagues in signing a letter urging USDA secretary Sonny Perdue to take immediate action in implementing a provision designed to support sugarbeet farmers affected by adverse weather.
“The past two years have been devastating for cooperative farmers working in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming due to significant weather events,” the senators wrote. “In 2018 and 2019, growing regions across these states experienced freezing temperatures in early October before sugarbeets are typically harvested.
The senators, including Sen. Ben Sasse, urge the United States Department of Agriculture to take immediate action in implementing the sugarbeet eligibility provisions that were passed in the FY20 Appropriations bill as a part of the Wildfire, Hurricane and Indemnity Program Plus.
“Since its inception, this program has been essential for farmers during adverse weather growing seasons,” according to the senators. “Currently, USDA’s swift action is necessary for Western Sugar Cooperative’s (the Cooperative) farmers in order to obtain operating loans for the 2020 crop in the next 30 days.”
According to the USDA, Nebraska sugarbeet production is estimated at 1.07 million tons, down 24 percent from last year. Yield is estimated at 25.4 tons per acre, down 6.5 tons from the previous year. Acres harvested are estimated at 42,100 acres, down 5 percent from the previous year. Area planted, at 44,000 acres, is down 1,500 acres from last year.
In related news, Fischer said the Bureau of Reclamation released its 2020 spending plan, which provides an opportunity for $2.3 million to be put toward the repairs of the Gering-Fort Laramie tunnel following the collapse of the canal containing the tunnel last summer.
“This canal is critical to Nebraska agriculture, supplying surface water to approximately 55,000 acres of cropland including corn, sugarbeets and dry edible beans,” Fischer said. ”This funding will help western Nebraska farmers and families who feed the world to recover from the effects of this major disruption to irrigation.”
Previously, Fischer said that the BoR indicated that precedent made them unable to offer any funding for the canal’s repair. Fischer and her staff worked closely with the bureau to find a way forward and secure this funding, which is part of what is needed for the full repair.
The BoR’s Fiscal Year 2020 spending plan, which was just released, includes $2.3 million to repair Tunnel 3 on the Gering-Fort Laramie canal, which partially collapsed on July 17, 2019, damaging all three of its tunnels. Tunnel 3 is located wholly in Nebraska.
Fischer said she will continue to work with BoR to determine how and when these dollars will be dispersed.