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**luftfluss** · 07-13-2012, 10:26 AM

Disaster Declared in 26 States as Drought Sears U.S. - Bloomberg

More than 1,000 counties in 26 states are being named natural-disaster areas, the biggest such declaration ever by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as drought grips the Midwest.

The declaration makes farmers and ranchers in 1,016 counties -- about a third of those in the entire country -- eligible for low-interest loans to help them weather the drought, wildfires and other disasters, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today. The USDA is also changing procedures to allow disaster claims to be processed more quickly and reducing the penalty ranchers are assessed for allowing livestock to graze on land set aside for conservation.

“Agriculture remains a bright spot in our nation’s economy,” Vilsack said. “We need to be cognizant of the fact that drought and weather conditions have severely impacted farmers around the country.” The declaration is effective as of tomorrow.

Moderate to extreme drought now covers about 53 percent of the Midwest, the country’s main growing region, fueling crop- price gains that are the biggest this year among the 24 commodities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index. The rallies are boosting costs for companies from McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO) to Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) and Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD)

The area covered by the declaration includes most of the Southwest, which has been affected by wildfires, as well as the Southeast and the southern and eastern parts the Corn Belt, mainly Illinois and Indiana. Iowa, the biggest U.S. producer of the grain, is not included.

About 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop, the world’s biggest, was in good or excellent condition as of July 8, down from 48 percent a week earlier and the lowest for this time of year since a drought in 1988, the USDA said July 9. More temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius) are expected next week from the Midwest to the Northeast, Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland, said today.

The low-interest loans and penalty reductions provided for by the disaster declarations will cost the government $4 million, Vilsack said. They are among the “limited tools” the USDA has to help farmers with drought, Vilsack said.

The secretary called on Congress to pass a five-year reauthorization of all agricultural programs before Sept. 30, when current authorization expires, to enhance the department’s ability to help farmers and ranchers in times of need.

Congress needs “to have that bill come to the floor and be voted on,” Vilsack said. The Senate approved a half-trillion- dollar plan last month. The House Agriculture Committee is considering its version of the bill today.

Representative Vicky Hartzler, a first-term Republican from Missouri and member of the committee, said farmers affected by the drought will rely on existing programs for aid.

“It breaks your heart to see what’s happening,” said Hartzler, whose family farms 2,000 acres. Still, “that’s why we have crop insurance, to help with these times,” she said in an interview.

“We need intervention from a higher authority -- rain,” Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican committee member from Nebraska, said in an interview.

The declaration covers counties in the following states: California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Delaware and Hawaii.

Clicker · 07-13-2012, 10:31 AM

This plus rising gas prices isn't good at all.

**luftfluss** · 07-13-2012, 11:02 AM

Nope, nothin' good about this.

And some of these areas were hard-hit by drought last year, too.

RoxnDox · 07-13-2012, 12:41 PM

not a big surprise... US Drought Monitor

Jim

Lloydy · 07-13-2012, 04:58 PM

You want some rain ? take ours!

**luftfluss** · 07-13-2012, 05:03 PM

IIRC, during Wimbledon one of the announcers mentioned record rainfall. Many of us in the USA would love to take some of it off your hands.

slackercruster · 07-13-2012, 05:30 PM

All my fruit gets eaten up by thristy birds and animals before it is half ripe. They are eating bluberry while still green. Racoon, chipm, squirrels, deer...all ravinous this year. All I got left is some Asian and Euro pears and some apples. Early apple all pecked to death..didn't get one. Ruined before ripe. Same with plums. But will have to see how things turn out with pears. Heat and dry weather has ruined most of the gorwing season for us.

Ratmagiclady · 07-13-2012, 07:03 PM

Obviously, people aren't wasting time with obstructionism and denializing hard enough! (While demanding 'The people' want 'Big government' to abandon (everyone else) when stuff they can't individualize out of happens.

**luftfluss** · 07-13-2012, 07:50 PM

We had a splash of rain here today, but my grass is still mostly brown.

Ratmagiclady · 07-13-2012, 09:13 PM

Don't have the gall to say you weren't warned. Oh, yeah, you do have the gall. Have all along. Can we start working on reality soonish?

jogiba · 07-14-2012, 05:53 AM

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/political-religious-discussion/192455-cor...ml#post2024100

**gaweidert** · 07-18-2012, 06:47 AM

Originally posted by Ratmagiclady

Obviously, people aren't wasting time with obstructionism and denializing hard enough! (While demanding 'The people' want 'Big government' to abandon (everyone else) when stuff they can't individualize out of happens.

HUH? Are you a CEO?

Please use real word and not made up ones. Sounds like the e-mails we get from our management. Can't make sense of them either.

I think you are talking about the cut everyone else's program but mine attitude.

Ratmagiclady · 07-18-2012, 08:39 PM

Originally posted by gaweidert

HUH? Are you a CEO?

Please use real word and not made up ones. Sounds like the e-mails we get from our management. Can't make sense of them either.

I think you are talking about the cut everyone else's program but mine attitude.

I think I'm talking about what I've been saying a very long time.

Projection has its limits.

Some with a lot of money are trying to draw out an argumetn like there is one.

They have no intention of doing anything productive.

One thing we've learned since 2008.

The next thing we learn?

Even chicken little type deniers don't have enough money to hide their tails under.

Bon appetit. For what it 's worth.

(And I'm *really* sorry. I've been trying since 1977. It's worth nothing at the moment, but I did try. I'm sorry. Gods know they put me in the hospital enough times with head injuries for not being *straight* while I was trying to learn about un****ing the biosphere, but it's clear no one's interested in listening *anyway.* So. What do you want, another timeline? Or just someone to blame while you *still* think this is about winning an argument?)

Look at the fricking atmosphere, dude. It's *worse* than we thought, no one's even *talking about slowing down the rate of making it worse, * and all that's left is anyone with half a brain starting to think about how to make the desperation moves less stupid when they're squallling for them. Sooner than we thought.

We're having massive crop failures all across the country and what's going on? The GOP's whining about 'socialism.' If we don't give Big Oil ethanol subsidies. They have amply proven they won't listen to reason, and even all this INternet just means more time spent arguing opinions. What's going to happen at this rate is they're going to wait till it's too late for a lot and start setting off nukes shallowly-underground in hopes of offsetting what's already in motion. (Which won't *work* for long, but might offset some bad feedbacks like what happens when there isn't *ice* at the poles. ) Another winter-summer-winter-summer like this, people *will* panic, and Gods help us if there's an apocalyptic dude like Romney in the White House. The Religious Right's squalling for more *guns* like it'd make a difference in the first place. Won't be a thing to take. Maniacs.

It's also *not* the end of the world.' Nothing so tidy. Once again, people will remember how big a *screwup* you insisted upon.

And you''ll try and respin it and do it again. Only problem is... Civilization costs. And if we waste this one.... We don't get the easy resources back, never mind the know-how.

jogiba · 07-19-2012, 12:46 PM

Quote:

A double-barreled dose of bad news came out Thursday: Not only did the drought worsen over the last week, but it's likely to widen and intensify through the end of October, according to the seasonal outlook prepared by government forecasters.

Drought widens over past week, unlikely to yield through October - U.S. News

Lloydy · 07-19-2012, 01:12 PM

It's still raining here, my offer is still open.

seriously, our farmers are in a similar situation - crops are failing from lack of sunshine and too much water, and the crops that are growing can't be harvested because the machines are sinking in the mud. We're looking at massive price rises in many staple foods, the supermarkets are already posting signs saying that some items are just unavailable.

We're in for a shock, as I believe the USA is.

07-13-2012, 10:26 AM	#1
luftfluss Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,629	Disaster Declared in 26 States as Drought Sears U.S. Disaster Declared in 26 States as Drought Sears U.S. - Bloomberg More than 1,000 counties in 26 states are being named natural-disaster areas, the biggest such declaration ever by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as drought grips the Midwest. The declaration makes farmers and ranchers in 1,016 counties -- about a third of those in the entire country -- eligible for low-interest loans to help them weather the drought, wildfires and other disasters, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today. The USDA is also changing procedures to allow disaster claims to be processed more quickly and reducing the penalty ranchers are assessed for allowing livestock to graze on land set aside for conservation. “Agriculture remains a bright spot in our nation’s economy,” Vilsack said. “We need to be cognizant of the fact that drought and weather conditions have severely impacted farmers around the country.” The declaration is effective as of tomorrow. Moderate to extreme drought now covers about 53 percent of the Midwest, the country’s main growing region, fueling crop- price gains that are the biggest this year among the 24 commodities tracked by the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Spot Index. The rallies are boosting costs for companies from McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO) to Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM) and Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD) The area covered by the declaration includes most of the Southwest, which has been affected by wildfires, as well as the Southeast and the southern and eastern parts the Corn Belt, mainly Illinois and Indiana. Iowa, the biggest U.S. producer of the grain, is not included. About 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop, the world’s biggest, was in good or excellent condition as of July 8, down from 48 percent a week earlier and the lowest for this time of year since a drought in 1988, the USDA said July 9. More temperatures in the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius) are expected next week from the Midwest to the Northeast, Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland, said today. The low-interest loans and penalty reductions provided for by the disaster declarations will cost the government $4 million, Vilsack said. They are among the “limited tools” the USDA has to help farmers with drought, Vilsack said. The secretary called on Congress to pass a five-year reauthorization of all agricultural programs before Sept. 30, when current authorization expires, to enhance the department’s ability to help farmers and ranchers in times of need. Congress needs “to have that bill come to the floor and be voted on,” Vilsack said. The Senate approved a half-trillion- dollar plan last month. The House Agriculture Committee is considering its version of the bill today. Representative Vicky Hartzler, a first-term Republican from Missouri and member of the committee, said farmers affected by the drought will rely on existing programs for aid. “It breaks your heart to see what’s happening,” said Hartzler, whose family farms 2,000 acres. Still, “that’s why we have crop insurance, to help with these times,” she said in an interview. “We need intervention from a higher authority -- rain,” Representative Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican committee member from Nebraska, said in an interview. The declaration covers counties in the following states: California, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Delaware and Hawaii.

07-14-2012, 05:53 AM	#11
jogiba Banned Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Millstone,NJ Posts: 6,491	Corn, oil divergence spells disaster for US ethanol https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/political-religious-discussion/192455-cor...ml#post2024100

07-18-2012, 08:39 PM	#13
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by gaweidert HUH? Are you a CEO? Please use real word and not made up ones. Sounds like the e-mails we get from our management. Can't make sense of them either. I think you are talking about the cut everyone else's program but mine attitude. I think I'm talking about what I've been saying a very long time. Projection has its limits. Some with a lot of money are trying to draw out an argumetn like there is one. They have no intention of doing anything productive. One thing we've learned since 2008. The next thing we learn? Even chicken little type deniers don't have enough money to hide their tails under. Bon appetit. For what it 's worth. (And I'm really sorry. I've been trying since 1977. It's worth nothing at the moment, but I did try. I'm sorry. Gods know they put me in the hospital enough times with head injuries for not being straight while I was trying to learn about un***ing the biosphere, but it's clear no one's interested in listening anyway.* So. What do you want, another timeline? Or just someone to blame while you still think this is about winning an argument?) Look at the fricking atmosphere, dude. It's worse than we thought, no one's even talking about slowing down the rate of making it worse, and all that's left is anyone with half a brain starting to think about how to make the desperation moves less stupid when they're squallling for them. Sooner than we thought. We're having massive crop failures all across the country and what's going on? The GOP's whining about 'socialism.' If we don't give Big Oil ethanol subsidies. They have amply proven they won't listen to reason, and even all this INternet just means more time spent arguing opinions. What's going to happen at this rate is they're going to wait till it's too late for a lot and start setting off nukes shallowly-underground in hopes of offsetting what's already in motion. (Which won't work for long, but might offset some bad feedbacks like what happens when there isn't ice at the poles. ) Another winter-summer-winter-summer like this, people will panic, and Gods help us if there's an apocalyptic dude like Romney in the White House. The Religious Right's squalling for more guns like it'd make a difference in the first place. Won't be a thing to take. Maniacs. It's also not the end of the world.' Nothing so tidy. Once again, people will remember how big a screwup you insisted upon. And you''ll try and respin it and do it again. Only problem is... Civilization costs. And if we waste this one.... We don't get the easy resources back, never mind the know-how. Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 07-18-2012 at 09:04 PM.

07-19-2012, 12:46 PM	#14
jogiba Banned Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Millstone,NJ Posts: 6,491	Drought widens over past week, unlikely to yield through October Quote: A double-barreled dose of bad news came out Thursday: Not only did the drought worsen over the last week, but it's likely to widen and intensify through the end of October, according to the seasonal outlook prepared by government forecasters. Drought widens over past week, unlikely to yield through October - U.S. News

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07-13-2012, 10:31 AM	#2
Clicker Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,241	This plus rising gas prices isn't good at all.

07-13-2012, 11:02 AM	#3
luftfluss Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,629 Original Poster	Nope, nothin' good about this. And some of these areas were hard-hit by drought last year, too.

07-13-2012, 12:41 PM	#4
RoxnDox Pentaxian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Gig Harbor, Washington, USA, Terra Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 4,494	not a big surprise... US Drought Monitor Jim

07-13-2012, 04:58 PM	#5
Lloydy Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Shropshire, UK Posts: 1,114	You want some rain ? take ours!

07-13-2012, 05:03 PM	#6
luftfluss Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,629 Original Poster	IIRC, during Wimbledon one of the announcers mentioned record rainfall. Many of us in the USA would love to take some of it off your hands.

07-13-2012, 05:30 PM	#7
slackercruster Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NE, USA Posts: 1,302	All my fruit gets eaten up by thristy birds and animals before it is half ripe. They are eating bluberry while still green. Racoon, chipm, squirrels, deer...all ravinous this year. All I got left is some Asian and Euro pears and some apples. Early apple all pecked to death..didn't get one. Ruined before ripe. Same with plums. But will have to see how things turn out with pears. Heat and dry weather has ruined most of the gorwing season for us.

07-13-2012, 07:03 PM	#8
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Obviously, people aren't wasting time with obstructionism and denializing hard enough! (While demanding 'The people' want 'Big government' to abandon (everyone else) when stuff they can't individualize out of happens.

07-13-2012, 07:50 PM	#9
luftfluss Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: NJ Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 11,629 Original Poster	We had a splash of rain here today, but my grass is still mostly brown.

07-13-2012, 09:13 PM	#10
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Don't have the gall to say you weren't warned. Oh, yeah, you do have the gall. Have all along. Can we start working on reality soonish?

07-18-2012, 06:47 AM	#12
gaweidert Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Rochester, NY Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,327	Originally posted by Ratmagiclady Obviously, people aren't wasting time with obstructionism and denializing hard enough! (While demanding 'The people' want 'Big government' to abandon (everyone else) when stuff they can't individualize out of happens. HUH? Are you a CEO? Please use real word and not made up ones. Sounds like the e-mails we get from our management. Can't make sense of them either. I think you are talking about the cut everyone else's program but mine attitude.

07-19-2012, 01:12 PM	#15
Lloydy Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Shropshire, UK Posts: 1,114	It's still raining here, my offer is still open. seriously, our farmers are in a similar situation - crops are failing from lack of sunshine and too much water, and the crops that are growing can't be harvested because the machines are sinking in the mud. We're looking at massive price rises in many staple foods, the supermarkets are already posting signs saying that some items are just unavailable. We're in for a shock, as I believe the USA is.