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SENATE HEARING HIGHLIGHTS BREADTH OF WHEAT COUNTRY DROUGHT
Feb. 15, 2013
National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) reports:
Nearly 60 percent of the U.S. winter wheat growing area is under drought conditions, with 43 percent located in areas of extreme or exceptional drought, USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber testified Thursday before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee.
Glauber spoke at a hearing called to examine drought conditions facing much of the country, expanding on both the impacts of agricultural disasters to farmers and the efficacy of government programs during this time of crisis.
Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said at the hearing that last year's drought affected more square miles than any since the end of the Dust Bowl era in 1939.
She called on Congress to pass disaster assistance and a new, five-year farm bill.
A webcast of the hearing and full written testimony are at www.ag.senate.gov.
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