Congresswoman Julia Letlow Urges the U.S. Department of Agriculture to Support Drought Relief Assistance

Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Vilsack urging him to ensure our farmers and producers receive the drought assistance that they need.

This past summer, Louisiana was faced with record drought and extreme weather conditions. Because of this, the Louisiana agriculture sector experienced an estimated loss of $1.37 billion in 2023 alone. This kind of loss is detrimental and demands action.

“I represent the largest agriculture district in the state of Louisiana, and I’ve heard directly from our farmers and producers how droughts have affected my constituents and their livelihoods,” said Rep. Letlow. “It is crucial our farmers and producers receive the assistance they need when they are faced with these extreme weather conditions.”

“USDA has taken administrative liberties through the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) that are not adequately and equitably addressing the losses farmers have experienced. ERP for 2020 and 2021 poorly accounted for many farmers' losses by using a one-size-fits-all approach requiring use of tax documents for loss calculations that often didn’t reflect the full loss a farm incurs due to natural disaster. Now, in ERP 2022, USDA continues with that model, but goes even further by picking winners and losers through their progressive factoring of assistance. We are proud to have an ally in Representative Julia Letlow to listen to the farmers and ranchers in her district and carry their message in Congress.” said Jim Harper, Louisiana Farm Bureau President.

READ THE FULL LETTER