US under pressure to grant farm aid

03 August 1999

US under pressure to grant farm aid

THE US Senate is under mounting pressure to grant aid should be given to its farmers, many of whom have been hit by drought this year.

Farmers lobby groups have been asking for as much as $10bn to compensate for the effects of low commodity prices and weather-related problems.

The recent heat wave has created serious problems for some states in America.

Dan Glickman, the US agriculture secretary, has formally declared West Virginia a drought area.

Lack of rainfall has been a serious problem mainly in the mid-Atlantic states, rather than in the big grain-producing region in the Midwest.

The heat wave pushed futures prices for soyabean, maize and wheat sharply higher in markets yesterday (Monday), reports the Financial Times.