Sen. Kent Conrad, Undersecretary Jim Miller and Rep. Earl Pomeroy review information from the North Dakota FSA State Committee. Submitted photo

By Dan Janes, USDA-FSA North Dakota State Office

North Dakota State Committee members from Farm Service Agency found their monthly meeting was more crowded than usual on Friday.

Jim Miller, the undersecretary of agriculture for farm and foreign agricultural services, along with Sen. Kent Conrad and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, sat in on the committee’s monthly meeting to learn how the 2008 Farm Bill is being delivered to North Dakota’s farmers and ranchers. FSA State Executive Director Aaron Krauter highlighted some of the bill’s programs and estimated that $750 million in payments and loans will be made to North Dakota producers by the end of the 2010 fiscal year.

Delivery of the Supplemental Revenue Assistance program is the current priority in North Dakota and producers are seeing payments, despite limited staff and technology in FSA’s offices. Additional funding for the program made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has increased the amount of money available to farmers hit hard by disasters in 2008. “One-third of payments to producers are a result the Recovery Act,” Miller said.

To date, more than $176 million in payments under the supplemental revenue program have been made to North Dakota farmers. “It’s extraordinary what FSA has been able to do through the county office people,” Pomeroy said.

Conrad, a senior member of the Agriculture Committee, was an architect of the 2008 Farm Bill and authored the permanent disaster program, which is available to help those devastated by the next inevitable flood or drought.

“Whether it was the drought in 2008, or the floods and winter storms in 2009 and 2010, these programs have been there to help our farm and ranch families in need,” Senator Conrad said. “Over $206 million has gone to our producers under these programs, throwing a lifeline to our producers who have seen Mother Nature at her worst.”

Prior to the state committee meeting, the undersecretary visited FSA offices in Bismarck and Mandan and saw firsthand how the 2008 Farm Bill has made a difference for farmers and ranchers. Employees in both offices shared their experiences delivering farm bill programs.

Linda Urlacher, county executive director for the Morton County FSA in Mandan, told Miller that ranchers in her county have been pleased with payments through the Livestock Indemnity Program, but have struggled to document losses. Through the livestock program, which reimburses livestock producers for above-normal losses, Urlacher said she’s seen many ranchers come in that have never been into an FSA office before.