Multiple levee breaches have disrupted agricultural communities across the Midwest.
A southwest Iowa farmer, who lives off the land, pleas for improved flood control.
AUDIO: Leo Ettleman, Agriculture producer
Leo Ettleman, of Sidney, IA, on Thursday outlined the effects of insufficient flood control before the House Agriculture Committee, Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management.
The Ettleman family, who has been farming ground along the Missouri River bottom for over 100 years, has become accustomed to catastrophic flooding.
“In 2011, we had a breach half a mile from my family farm. The land was devastated. It took years to clean up. 2018 was an extremely challenging year,” Ettleman said. “Rain and high reservoir releases prevented corn and soybeans from being harvested. 2019 brought significant snow and ice. This spring’s unusually warm weather, record rainfall were disastrous. This natural disaster was avoidable.”
Recent floodwaters consumed 85,000 bushels of grain, valued around $450,000. Ettleman hoped to acquire a profit from his stored grain, which is now rotting. He cannot begin to describe the impact this has had on not only his family, but other farm families.
“Until you witness or experience the catastrophic force of flooding firsthand, you cannot understand the disruption to life, and the emotional and economic toll it extracts. The flooding is ongoing, and the negative impact will be felt for years. As I sit before you today, hundreds of thousands of farmland acres remain underwater,” Ettleman said.
He emphasizes the importance of quickly addressing this long-standing issue.
“If breached levees aren’t repaired, our crop insurance and farmland could be re-rated. If it is, we will become ‘high risk,’ which will result in higher insurance premiums,” Ettleman said. “The question is, Will this disaster affect the change that is desperately needed? Moving forward, we must not only rethink how we manage the Missouri River, but also how we sharpen policy that will shape agriculture.”
