Condition of agricultural land damaged by the Midwest flood : joint hearing before the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and the Subcommittee on Environment, Credit, and Rural Development of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, O PDF
Preview Condition of agricultural land damaged by the Midwest flood : joint hearing before the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and the Subcommittee on Environment, Credit, and Rural Development of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, O
^A' CONDITION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND \ DAMAGED BY THE MIDWEST FLOOD Y 4. AG 8/1: 103-30 -L^-^-^-tVJ-J-^^-^ Condition of fturicultural Land Dana... V .vE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GENERAL FARM COMMODITIES AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, CREDIT, AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 19, 1993 Serial No. 103-30 ^4 Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriailture U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 76-074 WASHINGTON : 1994 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-043932-9 CONDITION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND ^^ ROOD DAMAGED BY THE MIDWEST Y 4. AG 8/1:103-30 FARINC Condition of Agricultural Land Dana... .vE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON GENERAL FARM COMMODITIES AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT, CREDIT, AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 19, 1993 Serial No. 103-30 Printed for the use of the Committee on Agriculture U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 7&-074 WASHINGTON : 1994 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-043932-9 COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE E (KIKA) DE LA GARZA, Texas, Chairman GEORGE E. BROWN, Jr., CaUfomia, PAT ROBERTS, Kansas, Vice Chairman Ranking Minority Member CHARLIE ROSE, North Carolina BILL EMERSON, Missouri GLENN ENGLISH, Oklahoma STEVE GUNDERSON, Wisconsin DAN GLICKMAN, Kansas TOM LEWIS, Florida CHARLES W. STENHOLM, Texas ROBERT F. (BOB) SMITH, Oregon HAROLD L. VOLKMER, Missouri LARRY COMBEST, Texas TIMOTHY J. PENNY, Minnesota WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota BILL BARRETT, Nebraska BILL SARPALIUS, Texas JIM NUSSLE, Iowa JILL L. LONG, Indiana JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio GARY A. CONDIT, California THOMAS W. EWING, Illinois COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, CaUfornia CALVIN M. DOOLEY, CaUfomia JACK KINGSTON, Georgia EVA M. CLAYTON, North Carolina BOB GOODLATTE, Virginia DAVID MINGE, Minnesota JAY DICKEY, Arkansas EARL F. HILLIARD, Alabama RICHARD W. POMBO, California JAY INSLEE, Washington CHARLES T. CANADY, Florida THOMAS J. BARLOW III, Kentucky NICK SMITH, Michigan EARL POMEROY, North Dakota TERRY EVERETT, Alabama TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania CYNTHIAA. McKINNEY, Georgia SCOTTY BAESLER, Kentucky KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi SAM FARR, California PAT WILLIAMS, Montana BLANCHE M. LAMBERT, Arkansas Professional Staff DiANNE Powell, StaffDirector Vernie Hubert, ChiefCounsel and Legislative Director Gary R. Mitchell, Minority StaffDirector James A. Davis, Press Secretary Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities TIMOTHY JOHNSON, South Dakota, Chairman DAN GLICKMAN, Kansas, BILL EMERSON, Missouri Vice Chairman ROBERT F. (BOB) SMITH, Oregon COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota LARRY COMBEST, Texas HAROLD L. VOLKMER, Missouri BILL BARRETT, Nebraska JILL L. LONG, Indiana JIM NUSSLE, Iowa CALVIN M. DOOLEY, CaUfomia JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio DAVID MINGE, Minnesota THOMAS W. EWING, IlUnois EARL POMEROY, North Dakota JOHN T. DOOLITTLE, CaUfornia CHARLIE ROSE, North Carolina JAY DICKEY, Arkansas GLENN ENGLISH, Oklahoma NICK SMITH, Michigan CHARLES W. STENHOLM, Texas BILL SARPALIUS, Texas GARY A. CONDIT, California THOMAS BARLOW J. III, Kentucky SANFORD D. BISHOP, Jr., Georgia EVA M. CLAYTON, North CaroUna BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi PAT WILLIAMS, Montana (II) Ill Subcommittee on Environment, Credit, and Rural Development GLENN ENGLISH, Oklahoma, Chairman TIM JOHNSON, South Dakota, LARRY COMBEST, Texas Vice Chairman STEVE GUNDERSON, Wisconsin JILL L. LONG, Indiana WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado EVA M. CLAYTON, North Carolina BILL BARRETT, Nebraska DAVID MINGE, Minnesota JIM NUSSLE, Iowa THOMAS J. BARLOW III, Kentucky THOMAS W. EWING, Ilhnois EARL POMEROY, North Dakota JAY DICKEY, Arkansas TIM HOLDEN, Pennsylvania RICHARD W. POMBO, CaUfomia CYNTHL\ A. McKINNEY, Georgia NICK SMITH, Michigan KAREN L. THURMAN, Florida TIMOTHY J. PENNY, Minnesota BILL SARPALIUS, Texas COLLIN C. PETERSON, Minnesota EARL F. HILLLARD, Alabama JAY INSLEE, Washington SCOTTY BAESLER, Kentucky BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi SAM PARR, CaUfomia CONTENTS Page English, Hon. Glenn, a Representative in Congress from the State of Okla- homa, opening statement 1 Johnson, Hon. Tim, a Representative in Congress from the State of South Dakota, opening statement 2 Nussle, Hon. Jim, a Representative in Congress from the State of Iowa, prepared statement 4 Witnesses Ehirbin, Hon. Richard J., a Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois 5 Prepared statement 33 Vickers, Kyle, deputy director, Missouri Department ofAgriculture, on behalf ofthe NationalAssociation ofState Departments ofAgricultvu"e 12 Prepared statement 47 Vonk, Jeffrey R., State conservationist, Iowa, on behalfofthe Soil Conserva- tion Service, U.S. DepartmentofAgriculture 8 Prepared statement 35 Submitted Material American Farm Bureau Federation, statement 61 Diedrich, Larry, president, American Soybean Association, letter ofDecember 2, 1993 65 Food andAgricultural Policy Research Institute, statement 67 (V) CONDITION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND DAMAGED BY THE MIDWEST FLOOD NOVEMBER FRroAY, 19, 1993 House of Representatives; Subcommittee on Gen- eral Farm Commodities; Joint With Subcommittee ON Environment, Credit, and Rural Development; Committee on Agriculture, Washington, DC. The subcommittees met, pursuant to call, at 10:15 a.m., in room 1300, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Tim Johnson (chair- man of the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities) presid- ing, together with Hon. Glenn English (chairman of the Sub- committee on Environment, Credit, and Rural Development). Present from the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities: Representatives Johnson, Volkmer, Long, Dooley, Minge, Pomeroy, English, Stenholm, Condit, Barrett, Nussle, and Ewing. Present from the Subcommittee on Environment, Credit, and Rural Development: Representatives English, Johnson, Long, Minge, Pomeroy, Gunderson, Barrett, Nussle, and Ewing. Also present: Representative E (Kika) de la Garza, chairman of the committee; and Representative Roberts, ranking minority mem- ber ofthe committee. Staff present: Vemie Hubert, chief counsel and legislative direc- tor; Gary R. Mitchell, minority staff director; William E. O'Conner, Jr., minority policy coordinator; John E. Hogan, minority counsel; Glenda L. Temple, clerk; Anne Simmons, Anne Kennedy, James E. McDonald, Teresa Gruber, Joe Dugan, David Ebersole, and Neil P. Moseman. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GLENN ENGLISH, A REP- RESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF OKLA- HOMA Mr. English. The hearing will come to order. The flood of 1993 will surely be remembered as one of the most devastating weather-related events in the United States. I am pleased to join Chairman Johnson in this joint hearing to review the condition of agricultural land that had been damaged by the flood and to learn of the progress that has been made, and will be made, in rehabilitating this land. From the outset, I would like to emphasize that the losses experi- enced in the flooded States have been minimized by the conserva- tion practices previously adopted by farmers. Today, we will hear from the USDA that Iowa's severe erosion in 1993 was 40 percent less than experienced in 1984, even though the rainfall was much (1) higher this year. America's agricultural producers have come a long way in the past decade toward conserving our natural resources, and it has clearly benefited all ofus. As most people in this room know, the flood is not over. Contin- ued wet weather has halted many repairs and it is clear that many farmers will not be able to plant their crops in 1994. For these farmers and for the communities in which they live, the physical and economic impact ofthe flood may be permanent. Many questions have been raised about the levee repair, as much farmland cannot be reclaimed until the levees are replaced. Delays in repairing levees, whether they are repaired by the Army Corps of Engineers, by State agencies, or by landowners themselves, will have enormous ramifications beyond the farmgate. For example, if land is not reclaimed, assessments of the prop- erty may be reduced significantly during the eroding property tax base. This would be a loss in addition to any ripple eflect of the loss ofeconomic opportunity from the loss offarm income. I am pleased that the President this week released the final $25 million that we appropriated for the emergency watershed protec- tion program. I hope that we will soon see the USDA implement the emergency wetlands reserve program. We look forward to hear- ing about the current status of the rehabilitation efforts and to ex- amine the various Federal programs that are available through USDA to address rural communities. I am very happy to yield to my cochair today, Mr. Johnson. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TIM JOHNSON, A REPRESENT- ATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA Mr. Johnson. I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma. Today's hearing on the condition of the farmland affected by this summer's flooding is designed to give us an idea of the magnitude ofthe damage to some ofthe most productive farmland in the Mis- sissippi and Missouri River basins. Also to be addressed is the abil- ity of the producers who depend on that land to make a living to go on with their lives and their farming operations. I am pleased to be able to cochair this hearing with the gen- tleman from Oklahoma, Mr. English. Since some ofthe issues such as conservation compliance and use of the wetlands reserve pro- gram fall under his jurisdiction and more immediate questions like what producers might be able to plant on their land come this spring fall under the jurisdiction ofthe General Farm Commodities Subcommittee, it is appropriate that we both deal with this joint hearing. There have been a number of ideas brought forward by Govern- ment officials, producer groups and the like, and I hope that this is a forum to flush out some ofthe specifics ofwhat might be effec- tive. Also of interest, are what tools USDA currently has to work with in assisting producers and what actions Congress may have to take to enhance these programs to better serve the affected pro- ducers. My own State of South Dakota, while severely impacted, with over 1 million acres affected by both heavy rains and flooding, seems to be recovering, with nearly $750,000 in repairs already un- derway in the Big Sioux and Vermillion River watersheds, with the
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