Floridas political leaders are continuing to pressure the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), hoping that more than half of the state will be declared as a disaster area due to the inclement weather.
At the end of December, in his final days as governor, then-Gov. Charlie Crist sent a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking that 35 of the states 67 counties be included in a USDA Secretarial Emergency Declaration. Floridians whose crops or livestock were impacted by the cold weather could be eligible for various federal programs, including loans, through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and other agencies if Vilsack makes such a declaration.
On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter to Vilsack asking him to include Volusia County on the list due to freeze and frost suffered in December that will impact the 2011 crops.
Most members of Floridas congressional delegation sent a letter to Vilsack Thursday backing the requests made first by Crist and later by Scott.
The agriculture community is vital to Floridas economy and a disaster declaration is necessary to help this important industry recover from Decembers severe weather, said Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Rubio signed the letter. So did the following U.S. representatives: Jeff Miller, Steve Southerland, Corrine Brown, Ander Crenshaw, Rich Nugent, Cliff Stearns, John Mica, Dan Webster, Gus Bilirakis, Bill Young, Dennis Ross, Vern Buchanan, Connie Mack, Bill Posey, Tom Rooney, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Ted Deutch, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Mario Diaz-Balart, Allen West, Alcee Hastings, Sandy Adams and David Rivera.
Missing from the list are Florida Democrats Kathy Castor and Frederica Wilson.
We are writing today in strong support of the state of Floridas Dec. 30, 2010 request for a primary county disaster declaration in response to damage caused by the severe weather conditions over the past several months, wrote the members.In total, the state requested a disaster declaration for thirty-six (36) counties which have suffered from freeze, frost, high wind and drought damage.
This past December was one of the coldest in Floridas recorded history, with consecutive days of sustained hours of temperatures below freezing, continued the members. The extreme weather caused significant crop loss and damage across our state. Citrus, tomatoes, nursery crops, strawberries, green peppers, tropical fish, sweet corn, and green beans are just some of the crops that were either lost or damaged.As the states request pointed out, this weather event has affected both the 2010 and 2011 crop years. Adding to the cold weather damage, some counties were already experiencing drought conditions in the preceding months.
Former Governor Crist and Former Agriculture Commissioner Bronson and current Agriculture Commissioner Putnam corroborated the losses with the USDAs Farm Services Agency in Florida, and they agree that the widespread damage meets the required threshold and necessitates a disaster declaration for the listed counties, added the members. With this information in mind, we hope you will expedite Floridas request for a disaster declaration so our agriculture community can begin the long road to recovery from the devastating weather conditions.
In his initial letter sent out at the end of December, Crist asked for the following 35 counties to be declared disaster areas: Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Charlotte, Clay, Collier, Dade, DeSoto, Dixie, Flagler, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, Jackson, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Polk, Putnam, Sarasota, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Wakulla and Washington.
Crist asked Vilsak to declare a disaster for 2010 and 2011 crops for the following counties: Dade, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Okeechobee and Palm Beach. He asked Vilsak to have the following counties declared disaster areas for just 2011 crops: Clay, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Martin, Polk, Putnam, St. Johns and St. Lucie. Crist asked for the remaining counties to be listed as disaster areas for the 2010 crops.
Scott asked for Volusia County to be declared a disaster area for the 2011 crops due to freeze and frost.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
