Wildfires
The third round of disaster aid payments through the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program is the largest amount appropriated by Congress. USDA Deputy Undersecretary Brooke Appleton says those payments are being prepared now.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins testified in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, fielding questions on everything from USDA’s bold budget cuts and frozen funding to the fate of the nearly $21 billion in disaster aid.
“The reality is we are playing catch-up with a situation that has been worsening for decades exacerbated by drought, disease and even climate change,” farmer, rancher and firefighter Johnnie White testified to Congress.
California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys are continuing to clean up after recent wildfires swept through the area.
The CCOF Foundation is helping organic farmers affected by California wildfires.
Atmospheric smoke has obscured grape-ripening sunlight while ash has coated green beans, cauliflower and other produce in nearby fields just days before scheduled harvesting.
Heat and dry conditions aren’t helping the wildfire situation in the West. Right now, 67 large fires are burning across the U.S., scorching nearly 918,000 acres in 12 states.
California’s drought is worsening, and blazes have charred more acres in the first six months of this year than they did in the same period in 2017, a year that ultimately set records for destruction and deaths.
Wildfires in Chile during February caused extensive damage to agriculture but limited damage to fruit crops, according to a new report from the USDA.
“Our farmers and ranchers want to focus on producing America’s food supply, not on trying to become experts in procuring what was once routine insurance coverage,” said California Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson.