A letter has been sent to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue seeking “the fullest appropriate disaster assistance” under the WHIP+ program and other USDA programs. This letter was signed by groups representing farmers in the Northern Tier states, including soybeans, wheat, barley, sunflowers, canola, dry beans, pulse crops and the National Farmers Union. Extreme moisture has resulted in quality losses, such as low falling numbers, sprout damage and mold. The WHIP+ regulations now exclude quality losses for everything but wine grapes. The farm groups said that puts grain producers in the Northern Plains at serious disadvantage.
