Politics endangers help for farmers

[Sequoia]

Western North Carolina farmers might not want to get their hopes up. That’s the bottom line on federal emergency relief funding proposed for growers hit hard by the Easter weekend freeze.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill with emergency relief funding in it, but House bill 1591 also includes the controversial provision for a troop withdrawal timetable in Iraq, a plan favored by Democrats.

President Bush has vowed to veto the bill if it comes to him. The bill addresses funding for disasters including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as the recent freeze.

The imminent veto is a frustrating development for WNC farmers, including Henderson County’s apple growers who’ve seen their $20-million-plus crop wiped out this year.
“I have mixed feeling about the war, but it seems kind of bad to me that they have to put two issues that are totally unrelated together like that,” said Adam Pryor, a Henderson County apple grower and president of the Blue Ridge Apple Growers Association. “They should be able to say, ‘We’d like to get some emergency funding for these farmers,’ and get it approved or not. Then do the war in Iraq on a different deal.” North Carolina’s farmers have an estimated $111.7 million in crop losses, according to U.S Farm Service Agency offices. Nursery crops had almost $58 million in damage, while vegetable and fruit farmers lost almost $27 million.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770426143