The Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network is designed to provide basic behavioral health care for agricultural workers. The care, primarily in the form of telephone hotlines such as the Iowa-based Sowing the Seeds of Hope, would be a first-line of defense against rural violence, mental illness and suicide.

Although the program won congressional approval in the last farm bill, it has not yet been granted funding through the appropriations process.

“Originally we thought this program was already obtaining money through other sources, but when we found out that was not the case, we began to work with leaders in Congress and specifically ask for funding,” said Katherine Ozer, executive director of the National Family Farm Coalition.

While nearly all Americans are feeling the pinch of a downturned economy, farmers, who have suffered through recent natural disasters and low product prices, are now also facing economic hardship. The stress has become so great that some hopeless farmers have taken their own lives.

Members of the U.S. House went on August recess shortly after passing an agriculture appropriations bill that had no funding for the Stress Assistance Network. Funding was also stripped from the appropriations bill that is making its way through the U.S. Senate.

Members of the Senate are expected to bring their agriculture appropriations bill for a vote on the floor either later today or tomorrow. If it passes without funding for the network, proponents are concerned that it might be too late.

“We would really like to see some movement in the Senate today or tomorrow,” Ozer said. “While there remains a chance that something could be mapped out, as a far as funding, during conference of the bill, it isn’t nearly as likely as it would be if one or the other appropriations bills already had provided funding.”

The bad news? Payments from the program won’t arrive until late 2009.The new program was created as a part of the recently passed 2008 Farm Bill and will make funds available to farmers who suffer crop losses because of natural disasters. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a conference call with agriculture reporters Tuesday that he has received the assurance of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that the 2008 losses will be eligible for benefits from the program. That will be welcome news to Iowa farmers who have seen their crops devastated by flooding and storms this year.

“It will be just a matter of getting the program up and running,” said Grassley, explaining that the Department of Agriculture doesn’t yet have the regulations written for the program. “I’ll be watching its implementation very closely.”

“Relief through this fund won’t be immediate,” Grassley said, “but in the end, this is to ensure that payments are made to those who actually need help. And when you compare it to how long it sometimes takes Congress to pass ad hoc disaster assistance, this new approach might be quick.”

Grassley said he has toured many areas affected by floods, noting the widespread and “unprecedented” devastation on farms all around the state. “Flying over Iowa, I saw hardly a field that didn’t have ponding. A lot of fields had lakes. There’s hardly a speck of dry land — most fields were covered with water,” he said. “It’s going to be tough to recover. We’re working on a few things at the federal level that might alleviate some of the pain that farmers are feeling.”

Grassley can take partial credit for putting the new disaster program in place. The $5 billion trust fund was added to the farm bill by the Senate Finance Committee, where Grassley serves as the ranking Republican. It was part of a deal negotiated by members of the Senate finance and agriculture committees that allowed the new farm bill to be expanded above the original budget baseline.

“The disaster trust fund is split into five components, two of which should be applicable to Iowa and the circumstances we’re in,” said Grassley. “The first program is a supplemental revenue assistance program, which covers crop losses due to natural disasters.” Benefits will be based on a nationwide 12-month average crop price during the marketing year.

Grassley said the second component will provide emergency assistance to livestock producers. Disaster payments under the program will be based on farm losses that aren’t covered by crop insurance.

But there is a catch: To be eligible for the program, a farmer must have purchased crop insurance. “If you don’t have crop insurance, you don’t qualify,” said Grassley.

Approximately 8 percent of Iowa’s farmers do not currently have crop insurance, Grassley said.

Grassley urged farmers to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to have their losses documented and eligibility approved. Farmers can call 800-621-FEMA for information on how to get into the program. “Make out all the applications for the loan programs, or for these agricultural programs even if you think you aren’t entitled, so that you get into the system,” said Grassley.

Grassley also urged farmers to quickly get in touch with their insurance agents. “Call your insurance agent out and assess damage — find out if you can re-plant,” he said. “Obviously it’s too late for corn, but for us in my part of Iowa we can still plant soybeans if the fields dry out.”