Benjamin Gilman: “Mr. Chairman, I rise to bring to the attention of my colleagues a current plight of nonprogram specialty crops in our…”

“Mr. Chairman, I rise to bring to the attention of my colleagues a current plight of nonprogram specialty crops in our country, and more specifically that of the onion and vegetable growers in my congressional district in Orange County, New York. While it is clear that farmers throughout our Nation have experienced severe crop damage due to weather-related disasters during the 1999 growing season, I know of no other circumstances than the one that exists in the 'black dirt' region of Orange County. Onion and vegetable growers in that area have suffered devastating losses 3 out of the last 4 years, 1996, 1998, and now 1999, and now are more than ever in desperate need of meaningful assistance, assistance that the Department of Agriculture and the current crop insurance program has failed to offer. The small sums which crop insurance and the USDA paid to these farmers due to their 1996 and 1998 crop losses has failed to provide anything close to minimal relief. If these growers receive a similarly insignificant indemnity, and regrettably there is no reason to believe otherwise, under 1999 losses, more families are going to lose their farms.”