This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
Last week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns announced help for American
farmers hurt by lack of rain. Mr. Johanns said the total amount of aid is
about 780 million dollars. The aid will include loans, indirect payments
and other assistance for farmers in the central western and southern United
States.
Important farming areas have experienced dry weather for several months. The
drought has hurt both crop producers and those raising cattle, or ranchers. The
weather has harmed some areas, but has left others with enough rain for near
record crops. The Northeast, for example, had heavy rainfall during the same
period.
The U.S. Drought Monitor studies drought conditions across the country. The
service operates as part of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the
University of Nebraska.
The Monitor recently reported that exceptional drought conditions exist in
the states of Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. It also said that parts of
Alabama, Arizona, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska and Wyoming have an extremely
severe drought.
Secretary Johanns spoke with reporters during a visit last Thursday to South
Dakota. He said 64 percent of beef cows in America are in drought areas.
The dry conditions have left little or no grass in many areas where cattle are
raised. Ranchers who feed their cattle grass for part of the year have had to
buy food or sell some or all of their animals.
The Department of Agriculture will provide 50 million dollars in aid for
ranchers. That money will go to affected states in the form of awards, or
grants. It will then be given to ranchers. The grants do not have to be repaid.
The drought has also affected cotton, sorghum and peanut growers . Farmers in dry states have been
offered payments totaling seven hundred million dollars. This aid is part of the
Direct and Counter-cyclical Payment Program. It pays farmers an amount based on
a set price for their crop and the number of hectares they have. The Program is
designed to lift farm income when prices drop. This year, Secretary Johanns has
moved up payments so that farmers can receive them now instead of later in the
year.
Yet the Middle West -- an area known as the Corn Belt -- has received enough
rain. Farmers there are expecting excellent harvests of soybeans and corn. And
that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm
Shep O'Neal.
sorghum :
高梁
grower : 作物
（來源：VOA 英語點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯）
