Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson today reiterated the need for a permanent drought assistance program in the fiscal year 2008 Department of Agriculture budget. Nelson questioned Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on this omission during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture.

“In some parts of Nebraska, agriculture producers have been suffering through eight years of drought conditions. Yet our budget still does not reflect the need for assistance,” said Senator Nelson. “Contingency assistance for natural disasters should be a part of the regular budget process so we can be prepared with the unexpected occurs.”

Senator Nelson noted today that the Administration’s agriculture budget contained contingency funding for food stamps in case the need was greater than anticipated. He asked Secretary Johanns why a similar approach couldn’t be used for disaster budgeting.

Johanns responded that it would be difficult to estimate a baseline need every year and that their preferred approach was to respond to disaster needs through crop insurance and other support programs. Nelson noted that crop insurance was not effective in dealing with a multi-year disaster such as the drought, saying that it would be comparable to trying to get insurance if one’s house burned down every year for eight years.

Nelson then stated that the size of the contingency pool could be based off of what had been needed in the past and that there could be an actuarial method to measure such need. He offered to work with the Department of Agriculture on such a proposal.

“Nebraska’s agriculture producers have waited far too long for disaster assistance. While we might not know the specifics of when and where a disaster will occur, we can look to the past for guidance so that we are prepared for the eventuality,” said Nelson. “I will continue to press for disaster assistance so that our rural areas can recover from this devastating drought.”

Nelson joined the Senate Appropriations Committee in January. He is the first Nebraskan to serve on the Appropriations Committee in a decade.