Governor Asks For More Federal Aid For Farmers And Ranchers

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Governor Brad Henry is asking President Bush for more help for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers affected by the ongoing drought.<br/><br/>Henry is asking the president to reactivate

Wednesday, August 23rd 2006, 11:56 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Governor Brad Henry is asking President Bush for more help for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers affected by the ongoing drought.

Henry is asking the president to reactivate the federal Crop Disaster Program and the Livestock Assistance Program.

The programs each provide payments to farmers and ranchers who suffer losses due to disaster conditions such as drought.

Henry says despite recent rains in parts of the state the drought continues to affect farmers and ranchers. He says ranchers are selling off their cattle herds and that the state's wheat crop is 56 percent below normal and summer crops are dismal.

The US Department of Agriculture has issued three natural disaster declarations for the state to provide low-interest loans to farmers and ranchers.