Benjamin Gilman: “I would tell the gentleman, onion growers in Orange County, New York in my congressional district have suffered…”

“I would tell the gentleman, onion growers in Orange County, New York in my congressional district have suffered devastating losses 3 out of the past 4 years, 1996, 1998, and 1999. They are in desperate need of meaningful assistance. The small sums which crop insurance paid to these farmers due to the 1996, 1998 and 1999 losses failed to provide anything close to minimal relief. Accordingly, our farming families continue to lose their farms, individuals are uprooted, a traditional way of life is jeopardized, and a segment of our national food supply has been further diminished. These are the very upheavals which crop insurance was designed initially to prevent. The USDA has clearly demonstrated its inability to effectively deliver needed and equitable crop loss disaster assistance to Orange County onion farmers. Repeated and intense communications between the Department, my office, and onion producers over the last few years at all levels have failed to address any of our concerns.”