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TESTIMONY SUBMITTED BY MICHAEL STRONG 

 CHAIRMAN, DISASTER RELIEF COMMITTEE 

 KAUAI COUNTY FARM BUREAU 



Kauai County Farm Bureau 



Affiliated Willi Hawaii fiirin flurrau hilcrnlwii 

 P. 0. 30 

 KILAUEA, HAWAII 96754 



November 16, 1993 

 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, 



Thank you for the opportunity to present testimony on the agricultural 

 disaster assistance programs. Problems after Hurricane Iniki were that 

 farmers were ineligible for SBA loans, most did not qualify for 

 emergency unemployment benefits or FMHA loans and no grower on the 

 island of Kauai had ever been offered Federal Crop insurance. The USDA 

 emergency program ECP (Debris Cleanup) was partially helpful, the TAP 

 (Tree Assistance Program) was inadequate. The program that should have 

 given the most assistance, the Crop Disaster Assistance program was 

 designed for annual crops. Kauai has tropical perennial crops such as 

 banana, papaya and tropical flowers, that are harvested all year or 

 seasonal crops such as mango and lychee. These crops do not fit the 

 guidelines for payments that require more than 40% losses in the year 

 of the disaster. For our crops the real effect of the disaster is felt 

 in the years following the hurricane for which there were no 

 provisions. As a result of the guidelines for the Crop Disaster 

 Assistance Program the total payments to the growers on the island of 

 Kauai was $115,000. Senator Inouye authored legislation that was 

 attached to the Supplemental Appropriations bill, Pub. L. 103-50 that 

 provides "...funds shall also be made available to producers for 1993 

 1994 and 1995 crop losses if such losses were due to the occurrence of 

 Hurricanes Andrew, Iniki and Typhoon Omar...". This was signed into 

 law on July 2, 1993. The policy decisions of USDA have not allowed for 

 payment for dead trees and have kept crop loss calculations based on a 

 calendar year rather than a crop year when the real 'losses occurred 

 The formula for payment to growers under this program deducts 40% from 

 expected production then multiplies the average state price for the 

 crop by 60% Any production in the year of the disaster is deducted 

 before the 40% is subtracted from the expected production. After these 

 calculations the final number is adjusted by a factor that is 

 determined by how many claims have been made nationwide for that year 



lu *Le r09ram ;u In . 1992 the factor "as 50%, as this committee meets 

 the ASCS is gathering claims and making calculations to determine the 

 factor to be used for paying the farmers of Florida, Hawaii and Guam. 

 The farmers in the mid-west that suffered severe flooding in August, 

 1993 received a guaranteed factor of 100%, these growers have received 

 75 million dollars under the Crop Disaster Assistance program since 

 August. The farmers of the mid-west deserve these payments and we 

 deserve ours, we need the factor to be held at 50%. We need ASCS 

 directed to pay for the lost production of dead trees and we need crop 

 years that begin the day of the disaster not on the calendar year. 

 We need realistic yield and price standards to be used by ASCS in 

 calculating payments. 



The island of Kauai is the fourth largest of the Hawaiian islands and 

 is home to 45,000 people. The main industry is the tourist business 

 with agriculture the number two employer. Agriculture on Kauai is 



