Farmers in county could lose 60% of crops
FSA doesn't expect many takers on disaster loans
Saturday, July 30, 2005
GALESBURG - Crop losses are estimated as high as 60 percent in Knox County, where a drought has plagued crops since they have been planted.The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday declared 93 Illinois counties agricultural disaster areas, including Knox, Warren and neighboring counties.
To obtain this designation, the Knox County Farm Service Agency put together crop loss estimates that supported the declaration. It predicted about 300 of the county's farms would have a crop loss of less than 30 percent. About 340 likely will see a 50 to 60 percent crop loss, and the remaining 1,500 would see about a 30 to 50 percent loss, said Victor Rhea, county executive director. Those estimates could change if weather conditions change.
Knox County corn yields during the most recent drought of 1988 were 63 bushels an acre, one-third of the last two years', according to the Illinois Agricultural Statistics Service.
At this point, qualified farmers are eligible for low-interest loans under the recent disaster declaration. The Knox County Farm Service Agency office, which handles government programs for the county's farmers, expects few of the qualified farmers to apply for the low-interest-loans, based on past experience.
Rhea said fewer than five applied during the last drought of 1988 mostly because of the loan's strict security requirements. Though requirements for the loan have changed since the last drought, it still requires a higher amount of collateral than most farmers are comfortable with, he said. Also, loans are not as attractive to farmers as cash payments.
And cash payments could come, as they did in 1988. The government could choose to implement a crop disaster program, which offers cash payments for losses.
The National Weather Service on Thursday said the Galesburg area is 11.67 inches behind normal precipitation since March 1, having received only 38 percent of the normal rain in that time period. The west-central Illinois area continues to be in an extreme drought.
Last week, the government released Conservation Reserve Program land for emergency grazing because 60 percent of local hay and pasture, which is feed for cattle, has been lost. CRP pays landowners to establish conservation methods on land to reduce soil erosion. Most is planted to grass, which usually cannot be mowed until Aug. 1 and never fed to livestock. As of Aug. 1, it will open for emergency haying.
