There’s an old saying about Missouri weather: if you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes, it will change. That has certainly been the case this year.
Most of us are feeling the effects of the weather this winter. It seems one day it’s sunny and warm, and the next it’s freezing cold.
But while we concern ourselves with the changes in the day-to-day weather situations, there are many Missourians who are more concerned about how the weather affected their livelihood last summer.
A huge number of farms in Missouri were affected by last year’s record-breaking drought. All counties in the Show-Me State were declared disaster areas, because of the unusually dry weather and adverse growing conditions.
Farmers affected by last year’s drought have until March 15, 2013, to file a claim for relief under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP). This program provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting due to a natural disaster.
While a comprehensive new federal farm bill is needed to address the rapid access of relief for weather-related crop issues, emergency help during last summer’s drought was made available through concentrated efforts of local, state and federal agencies.
For more information on the NAP, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/nap.
Always feel free to contact me throughout the year with any comments, questions, or issues by calling my office at (573) 751-5713 or by visiting my website at www.senate.mo.gov/brown.
Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government.
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