At the SunPrairie Grain Elevator in Minot Wednesday, Johnson announced that he had contacted the administrators of the federal Risk Management Agency and Farm Service Agency about steps they could take to help North Dakota farmers. Other state offices, the congressional offices and even elevator offices have also been ringing off the hook as farmers try to sort out what to do with the quality damage that is out there in much of the northern part of the state. Rain in the last week of August and first week of September caused extensive crop damage across most of the northern part of the state.
Crop insurance is based primarily on yield.
Adjustments for quality damage under crop insurance falls far short of the discounts farmers are facing. These producers are finding themselves in a huge dilemma. Their dilemma is whether they should harvest their crop or not. Johnson said the federal government could take three steps to help farmers hit by quality problems. He said the most important part of the proposed program was to not penalize farmers for deciding to harvest a damaged crop and not just leave it in the field in order to collect crop insurance.