REVIEW OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRI- 

 CULTURE'S CROP DISASTER ASSISTANCE 

 AND 1993 CROP QUALITY ISSUES 



TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1993 



House of Representatives, 

 Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, 



Committee on Agriculture, 



Washington, DC. 



The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:15 a.m., in room 

 1302, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Tim Johnson (chair- 

 man of the subcommittee) presiding. 



Present: Representatives Peterson, Volkmer, Long, Minge, 

 Pomeroy, English, Stenholm, Condit, Barlow, Bishop, Williams, 

 Emerson, Smith of Oregon, Barrett, and Nussle. 



Staff present: Dale Moore, minority legislative coordinator; Glen- 

 da L. Temple, clerk; Anne Simmons, Anne C. Kennedy, Merv 

 Yetley, and Neil P. Moseman. 



OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TIM JOHNSON, A REPRESENT- 

 ATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA 



Mr. Johnson. We v^^ill commence this hearing of the General 

 Farm Commodities Subcommittee on the review of Department of 

 Agriculture's crop disaster assistance and 1993 crop quality issues. 



It is my understanding that the ranking minority member, Mr. 

 Emerson, is tied up on the floor a bit, he is on his way, but that 

 we should go ahead and proceed to expedite handling of this hear- 

 ing. 



I do not need to remind anyone of the terrible weather conditions 

 that have affected agriculture throughout the country this year. 



The excessive rainfall and river flooding that hampered planting 

 late this spring, and the cool, wet conditions that prevented proper 

 plant development and fostered disease problems. And last, but 

 certainly not least, the overflow of the Mississippi and Missouri 

 Rivers and their tributaries stood in stark contrast to the drought 

 that faced much of the Southeast. 



While the disaster assistance that Congress provided will help to 

 keep people going a while longer, it is going to be a long couple of 

 years as the recovery continues. 



I am also concerned about the ability of the affected land and soil 

 to come back from this devastation. Obviously, the reports that it 

 could be anywhere from 2 to 5 years before the soil returns to 

 preflood growing conditions should be a concern to all of us. I hope 

 that our land-grant system and the USDA can pull together to help 



(1) 



