Monsanto works with Farm Bureau’s community foundation for flood recovery and announces reseed help for farmers

Posted: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 8:02 pm

NEWBERN — During most spring growing seasons, the month of May is usually the time when Tennessee farmers are watching their corn crops grow and hoping for a successful fall harvest. But this year, due to a weekend of historical floods spreading across more than 50 counties in the western and mid-state areas of the Volunteer State, Tennessee farmers were cleaning up tens of thousands of acres that were affected.
Crops of corn and early soybeans were buried under water and silt. The financial impact to farmers having to delay crops could be devastating and the final cost of replanting will come out of their bottom line.
Representatives from the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation and the Monsanto Company came together on the farm of row crop farmer Malcolm Burchfiel near Newbern soon after the floods to announce Monsanto’s donation of $50,000 to The Tennessee Farm Disaster Response Fund dedicated to helping rural communities recover from the recent floods. Other agricultural organizations and corporations are being encouraged to match Monsanto’s generosity to help counties across the affected areas.
“Communities across West Tennessee suffered major damage as a result of the recent storms and flooding,” said Dave Rhylander, Deltapine marketing director. “Residents are facing dramatic challenges in rebuilding their communities, and Monsanto wanted to find a way to assist in the recovery. Partnering with the Tennessee Farm Bureau and The Tennessee Farm Disaster Response Fund allows us to get funds quickly and make an impact in the rural communities hit hardest. We’ll also be working directly with customers on programs to assist with replanting crops as farmers face those decisions when the waters recede. To help our farmers with their reseeding, we will be implementing programs to provide replacement seed at no cost to help with their financial burden of meeting their needs to recover from these floods.”
More details about the reseeding program will be made available from Monsanto in the very near future.
Tennessee Farm Bureau president Lacy Upchurch thanked Monsanto officials for their donation and said, “Tennessee agriculture and many of our rural communities experienced a great loss in this recent flood that goes beyond our remembrances of historical floods in our lifetimes. Many crops will have to be replanted, fences rebuilt, equipment repaired and financial difficulties overcome. We appreciate Monsanto helping the communities in these affected areas and their providing seeds to our farmers to reseed their crops will be a major help.”
To be prepared to respond when farm communities are hit, the Tennessee Farm Bureau established the Tennessee Farm Disaster Response Fund in 2008. When disaster strikes, grants from this fund are directed to farm and rural communities to help rebuild the agricultural infrastructure and are intended to help those who have incurred substantial damage. Those living in Tennessee counties that earn presidentially declared disaster status are eligible for help from the fund, and anyone may make donations to the foundation.
Published in The Messenger 6.8.10

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