and Julia Brownley (CA-26) are calling on the White House to include disaster relief funds for California farmers and growers in their forthcoming supplemental request for domestic priorities.Representative Jim Costa (CA-21)
The lawmakers represent a region of California that was battered by storms and flooding in the early months of 2023, causing an estimated $1.4 billion in damages to the state’s agricultural operations. This request is the latest step taken by the lawmakers, who have been pushing Congressional leaders to pass a relief package for agriculture damage since the spring.
“It is imperative the federal government provide much-needed aid to the agricultural community to allow for a full and timely recovery. Without this desperately needed assistance, farmers will not be able to produce the country’s fruits and vegetables and the effects will be felt nationwide,” wrote the lawmakers. “Earlier this year…Several weeks of atmospheric storms brought intense rain and catastrophic flooding…. As a result, many growers did not have their fields ready to go for the traditional planting season and needed to push their timeline. Fields were also so saturated with water that they were not dry enough to plant at all this year, reducing the number of acres planted. Furthermore, many crops experienced damage earlier in the year but are just now seeing such damage physically manifest due to their inherent lengthier growing seasons and late harvest. This combination and timing of damage has made recovery much more difficult.”
California lawmakers formally wrote to the leaders of the House Appropriations Committee in April requesting funds to help offset damage to California agricultural operations. Agriculture is the number one industry in California, with nearly 70,000 farms operated on 24.3 million acres.
A copy of the letter can be found HERE.
Representative Jim Costa
