Agroinsurance

Hungary - €1.9 billion in agricultural subsidies from EU in 2014-2020 period

The European Union agricultural subsidies granted to Hungary will increase to € 1.9 billion (HUF 587 billion) for the period between 2014 and 2020; this will particularly apply to direct aid, as reported last Wednesday by the State Secretary for the Agricultural Economy of the Ministry of Rural Development, György Czerván.Czerván stated that this will allow production-linked subsidies to be expanded. In the new period, production-based direct aid, of which the fruit and vegetable sector will benefit, will reach approximately € 191 million per year.At the event, researchers and producers also studied the current situation and prospects of the apricot market, which will also be benefited by the increased aid.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

USA - Damage to blueberries varies widely after winter's beating

Repeated assaults by deep freezes last winter has caused some damage to blueberry crops, but a Purdue University professor says that blueberries weathered the cold better than some fruits.Bruce Bordelon, a professor in the horticulture and landscape architecture department at Purdue, said that based on what he's heard from growers, the crop suffered some damage but overall came out fairly well.“Blueberries, like raspberries, are fairly cold-hardy,” Bordelon said.Not every grower's crop dodged the blade of subzero temperatures.Country Heritage Winery & Vineyard in LaOtto, which has Blueberry Acres, has 35 acres of blueberries and “lost nearly all of them,” said employee Megan Opliger. The business harvested some blueberries, which are for sale “first-come, first-served,” Opliger said. Opliger said the plants themselves were not killed by the cold, just their buds.Peaches were entirely wiped out in Indiana, Bordelon said, and grapes suffered heavy damage from the cold. “There was even some damage to apples,” he said.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

Canada - Weather causing issues for crop producers

Due to some very heavy rain and hail recently in Mountain View County, there has been some crop damage, although officials are not yet able to comment on the exact scope or offer a guess as to how the growing season will end.Bob Temoshawski, supervisor of on-farm inspections for the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), told his teams are currently in the process of inspecting flooded or overwatered fields in the district, and will soon be moving onto hail damaged ones.“We have a couple things going on. Probably yes there are drowned out areas with an excess of water that have started yellowing,” said Temoshawski.Another problem relates the fact that because the young crops have had a very moist field early in their growth, their root systems didn’t run very deep because they didn’t need to.Now that the weather is drying up and staying warm a bit more, the plants need to expand their roots instead of their stalks, he said.“So a lot of it we’ll deal with in the fall at harvest time, and some of it we deal with now, so it’s sort of a mixed bag. And with the increased moisture also comes diseases,” he noted.“So we have a lot of issues going on right now, but it’s nothing new. We’ve lived through this before in this part of the world. We don’t live in Alberta because of the weather.”Some lands have flooded worse than others due to their slope and location, so some are worse off than others, and the east end of the county is looking better than the west end at this time because of how the rain (recent) fell, he added.“The overall picture? I guess we can’t call it normal, but we’ve seen this before. It’s not really a surprise, although that amount of rain in spring is. But I mean we could be in worse shape, look at the poor guys out east in Saskatchewan and Manitoba,” he said.As far as whether the drowned crops will revive, it’s really hard to tell at this point in time, he said.“The plants are kind of a wonderful thing. They have one sole purpose in life, and that is to survive. A plant will go through a lot of stress to survive before it gives up,” he said.The growing conditions aren’t ideal out right now, although this is nothing new, he said.For all he knows, if the frost comes as late as last year, producers could still be seeing another bumper crop, he noted.“The last three years we had late late falls – everything came up nice. We had hail, we had late crops and everything, but we had really nice falls. All of a sudden everything turned around and last year was a pretty good crop,” he said.“This time last year things were looking rough too. There are so many factors involved. So at this point in time, below normal (precipitation) to the west, above normal to the east. Are we going to be seeing losses? Probably, but the extent is unknown at this point. It’s just too early to tell from our point of view.”Source - http://www.mountainviewgazette.ca/

Canada - Farmers' concerns about flooding losses

Farmers at this past week’s Keystone Agricultural Producers general council meeting in Brandon expressed their dismay over the severe crop and pasture losses due to flooding from the record-breaking rains experienced by Manitoba and Saskatchewan in June.According to Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation, over 950,00 acres went unseeded due to wet conditions, primarily in southwest Manitoba, said KAP president Doug Chorney.“Now, based on what Saskatchewan experienced upstream, I believe there will be an additional 2.5 million acres of seeded crops and pasture affected in Manitoba – by both overland and river flooding,” Chorney said. “This will mean that farmers stand to lose $1 billion dollars.”He noted the floods have also washed out forage crops used as feed for cattle, as well as pasture land, and cattle producers are already experiencing feed shortages. In addition, they are having difficulty finding dry pastures where they can re-locate their cattle.“When farmers lose this much money, there is a ripple effect for Manitoba’s economy – so this could mean a $3 billion loss to the economy, “Chorney said. “So many sectors provide goods and service to primary producers – including transportation, financial, implement manufacturing, and input sectors.”KAP called for a federal-provincial AgriRecovery program to be generated, a disaster program that is cost-shared 60/40 by the federal government and the Province respectively. Chorney said he had already spoken to Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn about the dire need for the program.Delegates to the meeting expressed frustration over the massive flooding of the Assiniboine River to guest speaker Larry Maguire, MP for Brandon-Souris, and called for federal support for the proposed Assiniboine River Basin Commission.The Commission would be a multi-jurisdictional body that would look at the entire watershed – including drainage in Saskatchewan, which many believe is the cause for the unprecedented river flooding during the summer. Maguire indicated he would take their request to Ottawa.KAP also supports the concept of a commission for the Assiniboine River watershed, and is involved in its establishment.Producers at the meeting also expressed the need for the Province to better forecast and control water at the Shellmouth Dam, located near where the Assiniboine enters Manitoba.Another concern raised was the moratorium on hog production in Manitoba, and the shortage of pork supplied to Maple Leaf Foods in Brandon.Maple Leaf’s plant manager, Morgan Curran-Blaney, spoke on the economic importance of Manitoba’s pork industry and Maple Leaf’s role. The plant is a major contributor to Brandon’s 16 per cent population growth, employs 2,300 people, and is planning $15 million in upgrades that will translate into a very large amount of economic activity in the Brandon area, he said.Chorney said: “I attended a consultation with the Province yesterday regarding issues to be raised at the federal-provincial-territorial meetings next week, and I pointed out that both federal and provincial government are supporting and funding the initiatives that will add value here in Manitoba to primary production.“I can’t think of a better example of this than pork processing at a world-class plant, and yet our hands are tied in increasing production to meet the plant’s needs.”Source - http://www.mysteinbach.ca/

India - Normal Rainfall Only in One of 52 Adilabad Mandals

Below-normal rainfall in the last one and a half months since the Kharif season began and no clear signs of rains in the coming days has put the paddy farmers in Adilabad ditrict in distress and worry.It is not just that only one of the 52 mandals had recorded normal rainfall but also the ground water table has started decreasing and whatever projects that are in the district are now coming down to dead storage levels.According to sources, agricultural officials have been taking steps to educate the farmers on specific varieties of paddy like ‘Sri’ which can sustain even with minimum water supply. They also expected 48,000 hectares of paddy cultivation in this Kharif. The district experienced severe drought in 2009 and the current position is that the extent of area under paddy is below 2,000 hectares.Last year, 2.30 lakh acres were cultivated because the rainfall was 92 percent against the normal rainfall. In the district, paddy is the major crop which is raised in the catchment areas of Kaddem, Swarna, Sathnala and Sriram Sagar projects.The Sriram Sagar project’s full reservoir level is 1,091 feet whereas the present level is 1,067.9 ft after release of 0.7 tmcft of water from the Babli dam which is constructed on Godavari river in Maharashtra. As per Supreme Court orders. Maharashtra government opens 14 gates of the dam from July 1 to October 28 every year.Under this project right canal (Saraswathi) 35,000 acres of Nirmal, Laxmanchanda, Khanapur, Mamada and Kadem mandals of farmers are cultivated. But in the current year not a single acre has witnessed plantation.The Kadem project’s full reservoir level is 700 ft and the present level is 680 ft. It has an ayacut of 85,000 acres in Jinnaram, Kadem, Luxettipet, Dandapelly and Mancherial mandals. The Swarna has a full reservoir level of 1,183 ft and the present level is 1,165 ft. Nirmal and Sarangapur mandals have a catchment area of 8,945 acres. Sathnala project’s full reservoir level is 286.5 metres and the present level is 272 metres. This project has an ayacut of 24,000 acres spread over Jainath, Bela and Adilabd mandals.The Komuram Bheem project’s full reservoir level is 243 metres and the present water level is 236 metres. Rallyvagu, Mathadivagu, Gadennavagu, NTR Sagar and Gollavagu are small projects in the district and have dead storage levels.Srinivas Reddy, a farmer from Chamanpelly village in Mamada mandal, says that they depend on Saraswathi canal to cultivate paddy and in view of the prevailing drought conditions plantation has not been taken up yet. Last year he raised turmeric in five acres but could not get a remunerative price and landed in debts. This year he expected a good mansoon to cultivate paddy but the delayed monsoon imminent drought dashed his hopes.A.Rajanna, a farmer in Bela mandal, depends on Sathnala water for irrigation and says that the cotton sown in five acres did not germinate due to the scanty rainfall and he cannot afford to buy cotton seeds for the second time and bought paddy seeds instead to cultivate paddy.Last year he had cultivated cotton but the heavy rains completely damaged the crop. The villages are also facing severe drinking water crisis, he says. Many farmers have shifted to alternative crops like vegetables but the depleting ground water levels and massive power outages leave them frustrated.A senior officer of the agriculture department says that the prices of essential commodities increase at regular intervals and may now double amidst the drought conditions.Source - http://www.newindianexpress.com/

USDA implementation of crop insurance programs questioned

House Agriculture Committee members said at a hearing on Thursday they are worried about USDA's implementation of certain crop insurance provisions in the five-month old 2014 Farm Bill.At the same hearing, members on the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management subcommittee applauded USDA's Farm Service Agency for its timely deliverance of livestock disaster assistance. Through the Livestock Forage Program and Livestock Indemnity Program the agency has provided more than $1.2 billion to livestock producers, many of whom had been waiting for over two years for assistance.The only witness at the hearing, Michael Scuse, USDA's under secretary for farm and foreign agriculture services, provided an update on several commodity and conservation provisions included in the 2014 Farm Bill.Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said he is “deeply troubled” by USDA's delay in implementing the Crop Insurance Title's Actual Production History (APH) adjustment, “which would provide critical relief for those struggling against severe drought.” He asked for more information on the APH and on conservation compliance. USDA's Risk Management Agency included these provisions in its interim rule published last week on several sections from the Farm Bill.APH policies insure producers against yield losses due to natural causes such as drought. APH is the record of a producer's crop yields over a multiyear period.Scuse said an APH adjustment included in the Farm Bill to help farmers affected by drought and other disasters in recent years will be available for crops planted in the fall of 2015, but not for crops harvested before then.“All we ask on APH is that some effort be made to partially implement the provision in time for 2015, where relief is needed most,” Conaway said.Under the Farm Bill, a producer may choose to exclude any year from their APH if their yield in that year is less than 50 percent of the 10-year county average. Additionally, the final provision is retroactive, requiring a change not just to future yields, but also to the previous 10 years that can be used to calculate a producers' APH.Scuse said “it's no small effort” to adjust the APH, which includes going over 20 years of data “for every single county for every single crop in that county.”Even though the provision technically allows farmers to exclude qualifying yields the day the law passed, Scuse said the information must still be verified by the agency in order to implement the changes.Several members on the panel seemed concerned by the delay in APH adjustment, including Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., who said the APH adjustment in the farm bill is intended to provide relief “for anyone suffering from the prolonged drought.”Scuse said he plans to provide the committee with a detailed, written explanation of USDA's process for implementing the APH adjustment.Conaway also said conservation compliance, a provision he opposed form the start, is a major concern of his in farm bill implementation. “I fear [conservation compliance] could undermine crop insurance and our overall conservation goals if the approach is overly punitive,” he said.In USDA's interim rule, “if a farmer plants a crop next spring and is found to be non-compliant on June 1, even if he were to come back into compliance on July 1, within a month, the farmer would still be denied premium support for 2016,” Conaway said in his opening statement.He added that the compliance provision was intended to impose the penalty the following year and only if the producer did not come back into compliance.In response to questions from Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., Scuse clarified that if a producer is found not in compliance in 2015, he or she cannot re-enroll in crop insurance until 2017.“This is a heavy penalty for producers, considering the amount of subsidy in crop insurance policies,” Noem said.However, Scuse noted that the agency is asking for compliance on June 15 of next year, but producers will have a period of time to adjust and come into compliance before the 2016 crop year without losing their subsidy. USDA has not determined the length of that time period.Scuse said in his opening statement that USDA intends to provide more details on the new conservation compliance requirements by the fall.Regarding the farm bill's Margin Protection Program (MPP) for dairy producers, the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said he is worried about the roll out of the new program. He said dairy farmers in his district “have no idea” there is now a margin insurance program.“I'm worried that we're going to get a very poor enrollment,” he said, and suggested that FSA send a letter to dairy farmers making them aware of the upcoming changes and the rate levels included in the law.Scuse said FSA plans to implement MPP for dairy later this summer, and that he would consider sending an update to producers before it is finalized.Source - http://www.agri-pulse.com/

Canada - Berry Farm Devastated By Rain

Heavy rain has devastated a farm in Bayfield.The Bayfield Berry Farm announced they lost their entire Saskatoon berry crop because of Tuesday's heavy rainfall.Marlene Beyerlein of the Bayfield Berry Farm says summer conditions haven't been the only thing holding the business back.She tells the recent winter saw temperatures so cold it damaged a good portion of stock, and strawberries are at about 20 per cent of a normal harvest.Beyerlein says an inch of rain in a day can be good for berries, but this week's storm saw roughly three inches fall in a short period of time.Combine that with strong winds, and she says the result was devastating.The losses have been so substantial, Beyerlein questions whether the farm will replant.She tells us the Bayfield Berry Farm has had six bad years of harvesting due to weather, and it's hard to keep going.Source - http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/

New Zealand - Storm smashes avocado orchards

Some avocado orchards in Northland have been smashed by this week's storm - trees are down and significant volumes of the current crop will be a write-off.Sue Culham has 6 hectares of avocado trees on her orchard near Whangarei, and while she's still assessing the damage that's been done - she estimates 15 percent of her fruit is on the ground.Ms Culham is a regional grower representative and said she's heard reports that some orchards appear to have escaped large-scale damage - while on others up to 50 trees have been toppled.She said the avocados on the ground are wind damaged and cannot be sold or consumed."But its the ongoing damage that we're not sure of, you can look a month out and the stems will be damaged on the fruit, the fruit itself will be damaged, the trees will probably drop the fruit because they've had a lot of damage to their roots."On her own orchard, she said this week's storm has been worse than the last big one in 2007.A Kerikeri fruit grower and chairman of New Zealand Citrus Growers Rick Curtis says the storm brought the worst conditions he can remember in the region.However, he said in terms of the citrus industry the storm probably couldn't have come at a better time - as all the fruit has been harvested and is off the trees.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

Munich Re: Natural disaster costs down so far in 2014

Floods, storms and other natural disasters claimed more than 2,700 lives and caused around $42 billion in damage worldwide in the first half of 2014, but this was well below the first half of last year and a 10-year average, reinsurer Munich Re said on Wednesday.The world's biggest reinsurer said landslides and flash floods in Afghanistan were the deadliest disasters, claiming more than 650 lives, while snow storms in Japan were the costliest, with insured losses of more than $2.5 billion.Storm "Ela", which hit parts of western Europe in early June, is expected to cost insurers about 1.8 billion euros ($2.5 billion), Munich Re said. In Germany alone, insured losses from the storm came to 650 million euros.But the $42 billion bill in the first half and the $17 billion in claims paid by insurers were below the average of the last 10 years of $95 billion and $25 billion, respectively, Munich Re said in its six-monthly review of natural disasters.The number of deaths worldwide fell to a fraction of the 53,000 seen on average over the last 10 years and the 9,100 recorded in the first half of 2013."Of course, it is good news that natural catastrophes have been relatively mild so far," Torsten Jeworrek, Munich Re's board member responsible for the global reinsurance business, said in a statement."But we should not forget that there has been no change in the overall risk situation."Munich Re's assessment echoed other warnings that it currently looked as though El Nino - a warming of sea temperatures in the Pacific Ocean - would develop in the autumn.El Nino affects wind patterns and can trigger both floods and drought in different parts of the globe, hitting crops and food supply. Munich Re said a strong El Nino would make it more likely that there will be La Nina system in the following year, which tends to cause an increase in hurricane activity.Reinsurers such as Munich Re and rival Swiss Re help insurance companies to cover the cost of heavy damage claims from disasters such as floods, hurricanes or earthquakes in exchange for part of the premiums the insurers charge their customers.Munich Re is expected to say what its own share of losses was in the first half when it publishes financial results on Aug. 7.Source - http://www.businessinsider.com/

France - Insurance, Solidarity and Social Media for Hail Victims

The French Ministry of Agriculture, Stéphane Le Foll, has recommended a new mutual harvest insurance to protect farmers from the worst effects of weather catastrophes. Meanwhile, some vine growers are simply turning to neighbors and social media to help them.Coming in the wake of devastating hail storms in Burgundy and Languedoc-Roussillon, the French government has promised to contribute up to 100 million euros ($136m) to the insurance fund, in the hope that the aid will encourage more farmers to subscribe to it.Based on the conclusions of a working group set up in November 2013, the project was presented to trade bodies and insurance companies on Thursday during a meeting to discuss agricultural perils.The insurance will not cover for loss of crop, but will provide the means for farmers to re-plant or repair damage in order to protect future crops. For vine growers, this would be particularly useful if new vine plantings, which are highly susceptible to hail, are devastated.The ministry explained that this new approach would reduce insurance premiums. Until now, for most farmers, vine growers in particular, insurance cover has remained too expensive. Yet the growing frequency of hail storms in recent years, especially in the past month, has demonstrated the urgent need to find a solution.The powerful FNSEA, the largest farmers union in France, has welcomed the ministry’s statement of support, stating that the new project is “a first step towards insurance for everyone … the insurance will provide a guarantee to farmers against major disasters and give them the means to continue in business.”FNSEA has promised to monitor the initial test phase of the insurance closely and to encourage cooperation between insurance companies and farmers. The new insurance should be available by the end of 2015.So far there has been no comment from French wine organizations; however in delivering the statement, Le Foll specifically mentioned the increasing weather hazards vine growers have to face.In the meantime, solidarity among vine growers is growing in the face of adversity, with some growers, who have been unaffected by hail, offering to sell part of their future grape production this year to their badly-hit neighbors.Source - http://www.wine-searcher.com/

USA - Farmers Devastated by Hail

From Burwell to Bladen, farmers along a hundred mile stretch describe the heartache at seeing their fields destroyed by hail. Areas around Ravenna and Gibbon were especially hard hit.Hail was reported along a north – south line more than a hundred miles long. Around Gibbon, damage is evident for miles and miles.It wasn't just Gibbon. Extensive crop damage was reported in the Ravenna, Heartwell and North Loup areas as well.Mike Wilkens was laying irrigation pipe when the hail hit. He said it wasn't the size of the hail, but the sheer volume of marble to ping pong ball sized pieces that fell."We rode out the whole thing in the storm, so we knew immediately it wasn't good," he said.But he won't have to water his crops now. Except for a section of soybeans, they're all gone.Wilkens said, "Talked to a lot of guys older than me, never seen anything this widespread this late in the year."Nearby, Leon Wilson met with his crop insurance agent. Jim Baldonado of The Home Agency tells farmers they might as well pack the bags and take a vacation, because it takes time to file claims, and farmers don't need to think about this.Baldonado said, "This is about as bad as we've seen it in a number of years. There's some soybean fields you don't even know are soybean fields."He says many farmers carry high levels of crop insurance, so look on the bright side, they won't have to irrigate and they'll get a check, especially if they added on hail coverage.He said, "There's some fields out here we have coverage on they're going to collect $1,000 to $1,300 an acre because they had really good crop insurance."Leon Wilson said insurance is a good thing, but not what the route any farmer wants to go.He said, "I don't know anybody that farms for crop insurance, but there's time we're tickled to death. We all pay and sooner or later we all collect."Wilson said insurance is a necessary cost of business."I'm not in a position to take devastation like this. It's a cost of operation," he said.On the Wilkens farm, they too will rely on crop insurance. But they'd much rather deliver to the grain elevator, with a crop that until now benefited from rain storms.Mike Wilkens said, "Things were looking tremendous, beans were outstanding, but there's always next year."Jim Baldonado from the insurance agency said the government won't even let them do anything for at least ten days. He said farmers who have damage should call their agent, but also take it easy, because it takes some time to get the paperwork going.Source - http://www.nebraska.tv/

USDA Provides 12-Week Progress Update on Disaster Assistance

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack provided a 12-week progress report on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) disaster assistance programs today, announcing that USDA has processed 106,000 payments to farmers in 40 states across the country who suffered livestock and grazing losses between October 2011 and passage of the 2014 Farm Bill."Farmers and ranchers who waited two and a half years for a Farm Bill are now getting some relief," said Vilsack. "We met the very ambitious goal to get these programs up and running in just 60 days. Now, thanks to our dedicated staff in offices across the country, we've provided more than 106,000 payments to farmers and ranchers in 40 states who suffered drought, blizzard, and other weather related losses."A quick implementation of the disaster assistance programs has been a top priority for USDA. In February, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that enrollment for four disaster assistance programs would begin April 15, 2014, 60 days from the date the programs were reestablished by the 2014 Farm Bill. After the 2008 Farm Bill, it took over one year for the programs to get up and running.Since then, dedicated full-time FSA staff, as well as temporary employees hired to expedite the application process, have processed over $1.2 billion in payments to qualifying farmers and ranchers. The first payments were sent out to farmers and ranchers within two weeks of enrollment. USDA estimated that roughly $2.5 billion would be provided in disaster relief to cover losses from October 2011 through September 2014. If those estimates prove accurate, it would mean nearly half of all disaster payments have already been provided.While disaster relief is a critical lifeline that can prevent farmers and ranchers who do not have access to crop insurance from being wiped out by weather-related losses beyond their control, most producers only receive support equal to 60 percent of their actual losses.USDA disaster programs include:The Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) and the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides payments for grazing losses due to drought and livestock deaths due to adverse weather.The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) provides assistance for livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish losses due to disease (including cattle tick fever), weather, wildfires and colony collapse disorder, or for losses not covered under other disaster assistance programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill.The Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides financial assistance to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate trees, bushes and vines that were lost or damaged by natural disasters.Specific program deadlines are as follows:2011-2013 ELAP – Friday, Aug. 1, 20142011 -2014 LFP – Friday, Jan. 30, 20152011-2014 LIP – Friday, Jan. 30, 20152011-2014 TAP – Monday, Feb. 2, 2015Producers affected by adverse weather should contact their FSA county office to make an appointment and learn if they are eligible for disaster assistance. For more information, producers may review the 2014 Farm Bill Fact Sheet, and the LIP, LFP, ELAP and TAP fact sheets online, or visit any local FSA office.Vilsack also highlighted that more than $270 million in disaster assistance has been paid to farmers and ranchers in USDA StrikeForce counties experiencing chronic poverty. "Farmers and ranchers in these counties have extraordinary challenges. Through USDA's StrikeForce initiative, we can get federal support to areas that need it the most," said Vilsack.The StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity initiative works to address the unique set of challenges faced by many of America's rural communities. Through the StrikeForce, USDA is leveraging resources and collaborating with over 400 community organizations, businesses, foundations, universities and other groups to support 80,300 projects with more than $9.7 billion in USDA investments into rural America. StrikeForce currently serves 20 states that include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.Source - http://www.usda.gov/

USA - Farmers impacted by storms wait for word on Federal assistance

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Wednesday he’s waiting to hear back on his request for federal disaster assistance for areas in east Arkansas impacted by flooding.Much of the damage was sustained by farmers who lost crops during torrential rains on June 29. Subsequent rainfall has only made the situation worse.“We’ve got it in to the feds. We’ll just have to wait and see," Beebe told. "They have to do assessments and that’s going on as we speak."Tuesday the governor visited impacted areas, some by boat, to get a firsthand look. He called it "devastating and terrible."The declaration would cover 10 counties and allow farmers and ranchers to apply for emergency loans through the Farm Service Agency.Source - http://ualrpublicradio.org/

Spain - Last week's hailstorms damaged almost 60,000 hectares

The Union of Small Growers and Ranchers has estimated the number of hectares damaged by last Thursday's hailstorms at no less than 60,000 hectares, with very severe damages in six autonomous regions, including Extremadura, where up to 80% of the Piornal cherry crops are estimated to have been damaged.In addition to Extremadura, the storms have also affected Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, Aragon, Catalonia and Castile-Leon, where growers have described the situation as "catastrophic," with around 58,200 hectares with a degree of damages standing between "average" and "very high".In the case of Extremadura, the agricultural organisation has still to quantify the losses.The hectares affected by storms on Thursday will be added to the more than 70,000 where damages had already been reported up until 24 June, according to data from Agroseguro.For growers, the year 2014 is a clear example of the effects of climate change: an increasingly "extreme and dangerous" climate for agriculture.The organisation has asked the Ministry of Agriculture and the Autonomous Regions to strengthen the agricultural insurance system."We have yet to reach a level of assurance of at least 80%, as below this figure, the system is failing," stated sources from UPA.Source - http://www.freshplaza.com/

Armenia - Hailstorms again wreck havoc in rural economy

Although the Armenian Ministry of Emergency organized tens of thousands of shots from its 164 anti-hail stations in more than 50 villages in the country’s Aragatsotn and Lori Provinces it was still impossible to avoid heavy hailstorms.The Ministry has already reported that as a result of hail some crops in the town of Aparan and neighboring four villages in Aragatsotn Province have been damaged. On July 7, hail caused damage to a number of communities in Armenia’s Shirak and Tavush Provinces.The Ministry of Agriculture informed that currently estimation of the damage is being done which will be published when clarified.The spring and summer of 2014 were full of hailstorm events in all provinces of Armenia. In later May Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan visited the Lori Province after heavy hail in Stepanavan about a month before, promising to compensate the damage as much as possible.Hail is one of the main factors of risk for Armenian agriculture. Its rate of damage at times is estimated at over 40 percent because of which financial structures are reluctant to introduce an insurance system for agriculture.Source - http://armenianow.com/