This morning, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack met with farmers, small business owners, and others affected by flooding in northeast Nebraska.

Vilsack, the former Governor of Iowa, made clear that the Department of Agriculture views this flood as a natural disaster and it is an insurable event. He and Nelson held a round table discussion with several dozen Nebraska and Iowa agriculture producers in South Sioux City.

Farmers and ranchers made clear their concern for, not only their livelihood this year, but the future of their land. Many said their families had been on their properties for generations, and they now worry that they would not be able to pass the land – and their agricultural way of life – on to their children.

Nelson said that he would be speaking to Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator William Craig Fugate today. Nelson wants to know how FEMA determined the flooding began on June 1st and how much flexibility there is in that date. Nelson also will encourage Administrator Fugate to visit Nebraska and Iowa to see the damage for himself and to provide a better understanding of FEMA’s process to the people who have been affected by the flooding.