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Nearly 40 percent of the United States suffered a severe to extreme drought. Drought ravaged cornfields and dried up pastures in most of the West, much of the East and parts of the Midwest. Because of poor pasture conditions, many cattle producers had to buy feed at high prices. Some producers sent more of their animals to slaughter because they couldn’t afford to buy feed. The increase in meat supply sent meat prices downward.

Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Conrad Burns, R-Mont., introduced a Farm Bureau-supported bill (S 2800) to provide the agriculture secretary the authority to use as much funding as necessary to assist farmers and ranchers with 2001 and 2002 losses due to weather disasters. The bill designated the assistance as off-budget emergency funding, which would not have to be offset by cutting spending elsewhere.

All 88 counties in Ohio were designated disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This makes farmers eligible for disaster assistance in the form of emergency low-interest loans. Livestock farmers in Ohio who have at least a 30 percent documented loss because of the drought in 2001 and 2002 will also be eligible for a portion of $752 million from the Livestock Compensation Program.

Ohio Farm Bureau was instrumental in gaining help for Ohio’s farmers. At OFBF’s annual Leadership Conference in August, a survey was taken of the participants about drought in their areas. While conditions across the state were variable, the majority of survey participants were expecting severe yield reductions for grain and forage crops.

The information gathered in the survey was shared with American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman, Gov. Bob Taft and Ohio legislators.

In a visit to Hardin County, Stallman took a look at the survey. During a news conference, he talked about drought and disaster assistance. He was confident USDA would offer an emergency assistance program.

Taft only got to see one field of soybeans and corn during a scheduled drought tour – but that was more than enough to show him how bad this year’s drought really was for Ohio farmers. He visited the farm of Hancock County Farm Bureau members Neil and Laura Clark.

During the tour, Taft was accompanied by Jack Fisher, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation executive vice president; Larry Adams, Farm Service Agency executive director; Jim Buchy, Ohio Department of Agriculture assistant director; and Rep. Mike Gilb, R-Findlay.

Many farmers from the state came to the Clark farm to hear what Taft and other state agencies could do to help them. After seeing first-hand the plight of Clark’s crops, Taft said it gave him "renewed determination to push the federal government on both a disaster declaration and a total disaster package."

After Ohio was designated a disaster area, Taft said, "I've toured farms affected by the drought, and I've seen first-hand the damage it has done to Ohio's crops. I'm glad our work paid off to secure this designation to make our farmers eligible for much-needed federal assistance."