U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today joined U.S. Senator Thad Cochran, R-Miss., Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee in introducing legislation that would provide timely disaster assistance to farmers affected by this fall’s heavy rains, floods and other weather-related disasters. U.S. Representative Marion Berry, plans to introduce companion legislation.

“Arkansas farmers, like so many producers across the country, have experienced unusually heavy rainfall this year, damaging crops and making it nearly impossible to harvest what little is left standing,” Chairman Lincoln said. “Weather conditions have left many of our state’s hard-working farmers unsure if their operations will survive another year. In these difficult economic times, this measure will help ensure our farmers can continue to meet our food and fiber needs while providing much-needed economic strength to our rural communities.”

“Farm families across Arkansas have faced ice, heavy rain, and widespread flooding this growing season,” said Berry. “The impact of these natural disasters has been recognized by both the President and the Secretary of Agriculture in the form of Disaster Declarations, and I’m proud to be working with Senator Lincoln to ensure that these farms are able to continue providing our country with the safest, least expensive food supply in the world.”

Last week, the University of Arkansas’s Division of Agriculture released a report estimating Arkansas crop losses for the 2009 harvest have risen to more than $300 million. This does not factor in the more than $80 million of lost wages of agriculture-related jobs. In addition to on-farm losses, the report also shows a decline of nearly $162 million in economic value-added, which encompasses soy, corn and rice processing, cotton ginning and reduced household spending by Arkansans whose incomes are tied to agriculture.

The measure would ensure that producers receive relief in a timely manner by providing an estimated $1.3 billion in direct payment assistance to producers in counties declared “primary” disaster areas by USDA. Direct payments, rather than payments from the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), are utilized because SURE is not expected to be available until January 2011. Farmers would not receive relief in time for them to plant the next crop. To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated more than half of Arkansas’s counties as primary natural disaster areas.

The Congressional Budget Office has scored the legislation at $2.19 billion, which will be paid for with funds available through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The language also includes $650 million to assist specialty crop producers, $150 million in assistance for livestock producers and $42 million to aid first handlers of cottonseed.