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WASHINGTON -- To cope with the worst drought in more than 100 years, North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley told a House committee Thursday he is considering activating the National Guard and imposing tighter water restrictions.
But most of all, he said, North Carolina farmers need federal money.
"I have not declared an agricultural emergency simply because I know there is no money available," Easley told the Agriculture Committee. He said he did not want to "raise false hopes for the farmers."
The governor said it was too early to know how much is needed. He asked the committee to attach emergency drought relief money for farmers in stricken Southeastern states to a supplemental appropriations bill to fund the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that is expected to move through Congress before the end of the year.
"That would remove a lot of anxiety for those farmers who are trying to make decisions on whether they are going to stay with the business and whether they are going to plant next year," he said.
Easley estimated that North Carolina farmers already have sustained about $325 million in losses from this drought, and the complete picture is not yet known.
"The farmers have lost it for this year," he said.
The hearing was orchestrated by Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., and sparsely attended mostly by House members from North Carolina and a few other Southeastern states hurt by the drought.
"We got a little rain in North Carolina today," Etheridge said. "People have to understand that is just a small down payment on a huge deficit. We can't have people thinking the crisis is nearing an end."
Etheridge sent a letter signed by 54 House members from both parties asking President Bush to include drought relief in the supplemental request.
Easley and some Agriculture committee members equated saving farmers with national defense.
"We would have to do whatever is necessary to keep farmers in business in this country or we would become a second rate power pretty quickly," Easley said.
Etheridge said the White House issued its supplemental funding request Tuesday without any drought-relief money. Etheridge said he now wants to attach it as an amendment to the spending bill.
"We're going to try to hook our wagon to that train," Etheridge said. "I am optimistic we will have support of the leadership."
The amount, he said, would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars for all of the Southeastern states suffering from the drought.
An Agriculture Department meteorologist warned the committee that the drought could last into next spring. The dry weather is caused by a phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean known as an El Nina that shifts weather patterns over the Southeast.
A dry winter would mean Southeastern farmers would have to plant their summer crops in dust, said meteorologist Bradley Rippey. Without substantial rains, the region would face a third year of poor yields.
Easley said he might have to activate the National Guard as well as hire private contractors to transport bales of hay into the state to feed livestock and to drive tank trucks of water to industries.
"I am planning for the worst-cast scenario through the spring," he told reporters after the hearing. "That would entail the National Guard and a host of private contractors. The value of the National Guard is they have a good number of trucks if we had to haul hay."
Hay has been devastated by the drought, Easley said. Farmers with beef and dairy cows already are selling them off so because they fear they will not be able to feed them.
Easley said so far he has relied on voluntary water conservation measures and on local governments to enforce their own mandatory restrictions.
"I have warned that if volunteer and mandatory conservation on the local level does not work, I will be forced to declare an emergency and even require water rationing," he told the committee.
But he said even mandatory water conservation now will not save the farmers.
"We have already lost too much," he said. "The bottom line is that our farmers need more money."
But most of all, he said, North Carolina farmers need federal money.
"I have not declared an agricultural emergency simply because I know there is no money available," Easley told the Agriculture Committee. He said he did not want to "raise false hopes for the farmers."
The governor said it was too early to know how much is needed. He asked the committee to attach emergency drought relief money for farmers in stricken Southeastern states to a supplemental appropriations bill to fund the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that is expected to move through Congress before the end of the year.
"That would remove a lot of anxiety for those farmers who are trying to make decisions on whether they are going to stay with the business and whether they are going to plant next year," he said.
Easley estimated that North Carolina farmers already have sustained about $325 million in losses from this drought, and the complete picture is not yet known.
"The farmers have lost it for this year," he said.
The hearing was orchestrated by Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., and sparsely attended mostly by House members from North Carolina and a few other Southeastern states hurt by the drought.
"We got a little rain in North Carolina today," Etheridge said. "People have to understand that is just a small down payment on a huge deficit. We can't have people thinking the crisis is nearing an end."
Etheridge sent a letter signed by 54 House members from both parties asking President Bush to include drought relief in the supplemental request.
Easley and some Agriculture committee members equated saving farmers with national defense.
"We would have to do whatever is necessary to keep farmers in business in this country or we would become a second rate power pretty quickly," Easley said.
Etheridge said the White House issued its supplemental funding request Tuesday without any drought-relief money. Etheridge said he now wants to attach it as an amendment to the spending bill.
"We're going to try to hook our wagon to that train," Etheridge said. "I am optimistic we will have support of the leadership."
The amount, he said, would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars for all of the Southeastern states suffering from the drought.
An Agriculture Department meteorologist warned the committee that the drought could last into next spring. The dry weather is caused by a phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean known as an El Nina that shifts weather patterns over the Southeast.
A dry winter would mean Southeastern farmers would have to plant their summer crops in dust, said meteorologist Bradley Rippey. Without substantial rains, the region would face a third year of poor yields.
Easley said he might have to activate the National Guard as well as hire private contractors to transport bales of hay into the state to feed livestock and to drive tank trucks of water to industries.
"I am planning for the worst-cast scenario through the spring," he told reporters after the hearing. "That would entail the National Guard and a host of private contractors. The value of the National Guard is they have a good number of trucks if we had to haul hay."
Hay has been devastated by the drought, Easley said. Farmers with beef and dairy cows already are selling them off so because they fear they will not be able to feed them.
Easley said so far he has relied on voluntary water conservation measures and on local governments to enforce their own mandatory restrictions.
"I have warned that if volunteer and mandatory conservation on the local level does not work, I will be forced to declare an emergency and even require water rationing," he told the committee.
But he said even mandatory water conservation now will not save the farmers.
"We have already lost too much," he said. "The bottom line is that our farmers need more money."