Vilsack Reassures Siouxland Farmers

(SOUTH SIOUX CITY, NE) Homes along the Missouri aren't the only pieces of property facing a potential deluge of water, farmland is also at risk leaving Siouxland farmers looking for answers.

Friday they turned to US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, as he stopped in Siouxland.

Farmers up and down the Missouri River are asking Tom Vilsack and Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson one question: will insurance cover the crops I'll lose in the oncoming flood?

Nearly 100 people turned out at the Marina Inn in South Sioux City Friday morning.

Secretary Vilsack assured everyone that he is confident that this flood will be an insurable event, and the government and insurance companies will step up to honor claims.

Four to five hundred thousand acres will be left inundated in Iowa and Nebraska alone.

Throughout the conference both Vilsack and Nelson were echoing the same sentiment: disappointment at a lack of communication between the Army Corps of Engineers and the public.

"You need to tell folks in advance of the decisions that you're thinking about making and the impact you think those decisions will have so that people can act accordingly," says US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.

Vilsack hopes to be able to declare a "Secretarial Disaster" in affected areas.

That can only if a state's governor requests it. If that happens it would open up additional assistance for flooded areas.

According to Vilsack, this should still be a good year for crop yields nationally, with an increase of 4 to 5 million planting acres, and an estimated 13 billion bushel corn crop.

This story was reported by Jacob Heller. You can contact him at: jheller@kmeg.com

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• Vilsack
• Reassures
• Siouxland
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