The United States Senate has passed an appropriations package that includes expanded funding to the “Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus” and authorizes that funding to cover new programs. Montana’s U.S. Senator Jon Tester pushed for the $1.5 billion in additional funding to help farmers who faced crop losses due to heavy, early season snow this year. “Tester’s fix also ensures that affected sugar beet farmers will get their indemnity payments through their co-ops,” his office says in a Dec. 20 press release. “Tester’s fix clears the way for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue an emergency declaration and provide assistance to Montana farmers.” “Tester was the only member of Montana’s delegation to vote for the domestic government funding package that included this language.” The senator has sent two letters to United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue regarding losses facing Montana farmers. “In September, Senator Tester sent Secretary Perdue a letter asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to clarify that WHIP+ includes value and quality losses, and that farmers in Northeast Montana facing those losses were eligible for the program,” his office says. “Nearly eight weeks later, USDA finally responded that they would not provide assistance to Montana farmers because excessive moisture was not covered under WHIP+.” “Then, following two weeks of heavy snow in Northeast Montana in early December, Tester urged Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to reconsider his decision not to extend disaster assistance to the region’s wheat farmers who were forced to leave their crop in the ground or were left with unsellable product due to excessive moisture this harvest season.” The USDA has not replied to Tester’s second letter, his office says. “‘The USDA should have provided assistance to Montana farmers back in September when we first brought this crisis to their attention,’ said Tester. ‘Now there is no shadow of a doubt that these producers qualify for WHIP+, so the USDA needs to get it in gear and immediately provide support to folks in Northeastern Montana because family farms are on the line.'” “‘We’re done asking-now we’re telling.'” Source - https://oilcity.news