Quicker Farm Aid Promised
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HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said Saturday that U.S. farmers will begin receiving emergency farm aid payments quicker than in previous years.
He said farmers will receive their payments as soon as the government can verify their claims. Last year, payments to farmers were delayed until all farmers’ claims had been verified, he said.
For the longer term, Glickman promised an evaluation of the 1996 Freedom to Farm law that deregulated farming and pulled some financial safety nets from farmers.
Speaking at a hearing in Hutchinson organized by Rep. Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican and a member of the House Agriculture Committee, Glickman alluded to the growing financial stress on farmers in America’s heartland and vowed an aggressive search for answers.
The Senate last month passed a $7.65-billion rescue package, and there has been talk that the Clinton administration will endorse up to $11 billion in aid, with $3 billion to $4 billion of that offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget.
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