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Under the current regulations, producers with complete losses on 

 individual tracts may not be eligible for Federal assistance if total 

 production on their farms does not trigger the disaster threshold. 



In ASA's view, individual tracts, rather than farms, should be 

 used to determine eligibility for disaster aid in the event of cata- 

 strophic losses. This is very much a case in our particular area, 

 and I would like to say, I am sure, in a large part of the area of 

 the Midwest. 



Another area of concern for producers affected by this year's dis- 

 aster is compliance with conservation plans. Many producers in the 

 States affected by heavy rains and flooding will be unable to com- 

 ply with requirements of the approved conservation plans. In some 

 instances, compliance is simply not possible. In others, compliance 

 is possible but probably not affordable. 



ASA feels it is important that Congress and USDA take these 

 unusual circumstances into account by allowing the local SCS of- 

 fices to make case-by-case adjustments for producers trying to meet 

 conservation plan requirements. 



And to clarify that, we do not want to see this as a loophole for 

 farmers to get out of the conservation plans, but more on a case- 

 by-case basis where, due to these circumstances, that they can be 

 looked at and we can use some common sense in that approach. 



ASA also hopes that Congress and the administration will re- 

 spond to the magnitude of these losses and demand for disaster as- 

 sistance to move quickly to reform crop insurance. 



We are pleased Secretary Espy has formed a crop insurance re- 

 form task force to address the obvious need for change in the cur- 

 rent program. Soybean producers have long believed that crop in- 

 surance needs a major overhaul. In particular, soybean producers 

 should be eligible for insurance for prevented planting, as is avail- 

 able for program crops. ASA will participate actively with the Sec- 

 retards task force, and we will work with any Member of Congress 

 who is interested in reforming the current system. 



Another area vital to agriculture is rebuilding of our marketing 

 infrastructure. ASA is concerned about the ability of many produc- 

 ers to bring their crops to market and the impact these dislocations 

 will have on the local price for soybeans. 



States and local governments do not have the resources needed 

 to respond to these problems. With harvest approaching. Federal 

 assistance is needed immediately to remove transportation bottle- 

 necks, to repair damaged roads, bridges, and storage facilities. This 

 is an item that we had a resolutions process at our Denver Expo, 

 the first part of August, that received a lot of attention. It is very 

 much a concern of a large part of the Soybean Belt. 



I have talked briefly about a few things that we think would 

 probably be necessary and good improvements to what has been 

 done already. When I look at the whole scenario, I have some con- 

 cerns in two different areas, two different groups of farmers. 



One, is the farmer that financially, is not going to be able to 

 make it through this year, probably because he wasn't very strong 

 or as strong as what we like to see going into this year. And that 

 is very unfortunate. 



Probably where my concern — when you look at total agriculture, 

 my concern is for a second group of farmers. Those are the ones 



