Flooded-out farmers tell ag leaders it will be hard to recover without federal assistance
Hamburg, Ia. — Still struggling to recover from the 2011 flood, Mike Stenzel says this disaster may be the one that ends his days farming.
"This flood may decide it," says 72-year-old Stenzel, who along with his 44-year-old son, Michael, estimates they've lost about about 50,000 bushels of stored seed beans and 145,000 bushels of corn to flooding.
"It's about $905,000 worth of grain sitting underwater," said the senior Stenzel.
Their grain bins are among about 30 in the area that floodwaters have ruined.
Farmers typically store part of their grain, hoping to get a higher price later in the season when supplies are lower than at harvest.
Little if any of the grain destroyed in record flooding this month is insured, said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig, who along with USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey, met with farmers struggling with flooding in Hamburg Thursday.
On Friday, the men joined U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, to view the flooding from the air and later fielded questions from about 400 southwest Iowa residents at a town hall meeting in Malvern.
Farmers asked if the stored grain could be covered through a $13.5 billion federal disaster bill. Lawmakers are working to bring spring flooding into the disaster assistance for 2018 hurricanes and wildfires.
"You know what's been happening in the ag economy over the past four or five years," said Brian Johnson, who farms near Percival. "People don't have the money to cover the grain losses in those bins."
U.S. farm income this year is projected to be about 45 percent lower than a 2013 high.
Grassley said he and congressional leaders will try to cover the stored grain. But the timing might not work, given how long it will take to assess flood damage, which is likely to continue in the months ahead.
Families hit by disasters in California, Georgia and elsewhere last year are still waiting for help, he said. Lawmakers aren't going to hold the bill "while we decide how much loss we have here," Grassley said.
He said he hoped the U.S. Department of Agriculture could find the authority to cover the stored grain through existing programs. "It would be so much easier than getting a bill passed," Grassley said.
Northey, however, said department attorneys say stored grain isn't covered.
USDA does have several programs that are available to help farmers as they work to recover, Northey said. But, he said, "nothing will make producers whole. ... We’re just trying to soften the blow."
Carol Vinton, a Mills County supervisor, said some of the destroyed grain was sold, with farmers slated to deliver corn and soybeans to local elevators and grain companies.
"You either come up with the grain or write out a check," Vinton told leaders.
Residents complained about the U.S. Corps of Engineers' management during the flood, saying the Corps hasn't made flood protection its highest priority.
Grassley said he and other lawmakers are looking into the issue to find a long-term solution.
Naig said the survival of area farmers may depend on federal assistance.
"The losses are profound," Naig said. "We don't care what the vehicle" the assistance comes in.
Altogether, the state estimates $1.6 billion in total flood damages, with $214 million coming from agriculture. An estimated 100,000 acres could be flooded.
"We'll look to our congressional delegation to see what they can do to help close those gaps," Naig said.
"Without some help, that's it," Michael Stenzel said. "We'll have to liquidate. We can't take that big of a hit."
Northey said farmers were in a better position to recover from floods in 2011.
Flooded farmers "don't have a lot of profits and assets to fall back on as they have at other times, even in 2011," Northey said.
"You feel for folks ... just the concern they have for keeping their farms going," Northey said.
Unlike 2011, the Stenzels said they just didn't have enough time to move the grain. They felt lucky to move tractors, combines and other farm equipment.
Some farmers moved equipment to higher ground, only to find it wasn't high enough, with floodwaters rising higher than 2011, residents told Naig and Northey.