"We are looking at every possible option to make certain that those coping with the drought and other agricultural disasters get the assistance they need," said Sen. Jim Talent, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "Missouri has a wide variety of crops and our agriculture sector is critical to jobs and our economy. I expect the Senate will approve, as we should, additional disaster assistance to help relieve suffering caused by the hurricanes. We should also remember those coping with agriculture disasters in Missouri and farm states across the country."

"Severe drought conditions in much of the country combined with high fuel costs have forced our farmers to experience extremely high operating costs and this is literally wreaking havoc on the heartbeat of our nation's economy," Senator Blanche Lincoln said. "Now that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have taken their catastrophic toll on the Gulf Coast, the need for economic disaster assistance for our agriculture producers couldn't be greater. The interests of our farmers should not be left behind when Congress develops its comprehensive response to deal with the wide ranging impacts of these two Hurricanes."

The Senators' legislation, the "Agriculture Assistance Act of 2005," would provide an additional direct payment to producers who have suffered economic losses in 2005. It would provide crop loss assistance to those producers who can prove that they have experienced a 35 percent production loss. In addition, the emergency measure includes assistance for livestock farmers, fruit and vegetable growers and sugarcane farmers in the Gulf who were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina.

Both Senators have requested a cost estimate of the emergency proposal from the Congressional Budget Office.