Trump approves disaster declaration for Iowa; new estimates on impacted acres released

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Trump approves disaster declaration for Iowa; new estimates on impacted acres released

Photo credit: Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

President Trump said this morning he has approved federal disaster aid for Iowa to help repair damage cause by the August 10th derecho windstorm that tore through the state.

The request for nearly four billion dollars in disaster relief was submitted by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.

Meanwhile, new numbers from USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), which administers the federal crop insurance program, indicate nearly 14 million acres of insured crops, including 8.2 million acres of corn and 5.6 million acres of soybeans, may have been impacted by the storm.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture says 36 counties in Iowa were the most heavily impacted with about 3.6 million acres of corn and 2.5 million acres of soybeans being the hardest hit. The state has also lost tens of millions of bushels of grain storage just a few weeks before harvest begins.

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