Fairness should determine farm disaster funds

In an attempt to be sensitive to local conditions, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has placed County Committee members in a difficult position.

The USDA has put committee members on the hot seat by giving them the authority -- when members determine it is justified -- to reduce the amount of disaster payments to farmers hit by drought conditions.

This is a tough spot to be in because, on one hand, the County Committee members have a responsibility to be stewards of the taxpayer's money, while on the other hand, they are making judgments that could have an adverse effect on their neighbors and the bankers and business people in the local community.

During the past two extremely dry years, yields were drastically reduced throughout much of the nation, including Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas. There's no doubt about that.

But, the question is, how much of the yield loss was the result of the drought, and how much was the result of poor farming practices. That's where the County Committee comes into the picture.

They have guidelines to go by to determine if farmers have been as diligent as they should have been. This includes such things as late planting, low seed rate, inferior seed quality, low germination percentage, inadequate fertilizer, poor weed control and unsuitable crop varieties.

But -- in some cases -- those are value judgments. As bankers pointed out in visits with the Gazette, a number of area farmers cut back on fertilizer and weed control in an attempt to reduce expenses; a step which later could come back to haunt crop producers in reduced payments.

Overall, the payment cutbacks don't amount to a large percentage. In Red Willow County, Ken Carriker at the Farm Service Agency estimates payments have been cut by only about 1.5 percent. Still, with $2.2 million in total drought disaster payments, that amounts to a several thousand dollars. And it's especially hard for the farmer who were expecting $50,000 in drought aid, but received $5,000 to $15,000 less than that.

Because we live in such sparsely populated counties -- some with fewer than 500 farming units -- hard feelings can be created by placing payment responsibility in the hands of the County Committee. It would be better if the USDA set up strict guidelines that could be clearly understood and not open to interpretation.

Otherwise, abuses are possible. Some County Committees are more lax in their rulings, making virtually no cutbacks. Others are more strict, holding farmers to high production standards which may, or may not, take special circumstances fully into account.

Fairness should be the rule.When human judgment on the local level enters the equation, it is difficult to achieve equity on a county-by-county, nationwide basis.