As Alabama farmers struggle to salvage what’s left of their crops and clean up trees that were toppled by Hurricane Ivan, the Alabama Farmers Federation is working with the USDA and elected officials to speed disaster relief to the state.Federation President Jerry Newby, along with two members of the state’s congressional delegation and USDA Farm Service Agency State Director Danny Crawford, toured storm-damaged farms in Talladega, Baldwin and Butler counties on Sept. 20.”We saw corn and soybeans on the ground and a lot of timber snapped off,” Newby said following the tour. “We saw a tremendous amount of cotton that was open and had been blown to the ground. What wasn’t open was so heavy it blew down. Hopefully, some of it will stand up and can be harvested, but only time will tell. Our state’s farmers lost a lot of pecan trees and timber. There also was a lot of erosion in fields where farmers had planted fall crops.”Most of the state’s forestland is owned by individuals. Many of the trees that were valuable as lumber were damaged to the point that they may only be good for pulpwood–greatly reducing the income those landowners may receive for their trees.Alabama Congressmen Terry Everett, Jo Bonner and Mike Rogers all serve on the House Agriculture Committee. Bonner, Rogers and Everett’s District Director Thomas Paramore toured portions of the state with Newby and other farmers following the storm. The congressmen pledged to do all they could to provide help to Alabama farmers.”We’re going to look at the programs we already have and see how they can be used in this disaster,” Rogers said. “We also may need to fashion some new remedies to help our farmers.” Bonner and Rogers said much of the focus following the storm was on residential property. Both said they were surprised at the damage suffered by Alabama farmers. “You can see that there isn’t any cotton left in this field to gather,” Bonner said during one tour stop.Alabama’s 200,000 acres of peanuts may have suffered the least. Most farmers said if they can get several days of dry weather, they still might harvest a decent peanut crop. But early reports indicate the state’s 600,000 acres of cotton may have been the hardest hit of all row crops.”Our crop looks to be a total loss,” said Baldwin County Farmers Federation President David Bitto. “We really thought this was going to be our best year ever for cotton. In some fields we expected to pick two bales to the acre. Hurricane Ivan blew all that away.”Twelve Alabama counties were included in a presidential disaster declaration within days of the storm. A week later, 41 more counties were added to the declaration. In addition, counties that are contiguous to the declared counties also qualify for disaster relief, which means qualifying producers in all 67 Alabama counties are eligible for low-interest emergency loans .Newby encouraged Gov. Bob Riley to seek federal disaster assistance from Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman for farmers who suffered damage from Hurricane Ivan. Such a declaration would trigger further crop assessments and would ensure that all counties would be eligible for emergency assistance. The Federation also is working with other agencies to provide information and relief to farmers as soon as possible. The Farm Service Agency is sending extra workers to the hardest hit areas of the state to help with storm damage assessments. Crawford encouraged farmers to contact their local FSA office immediately, adding that they should document any cleanup efforts.”Farmers should take photos of any damage before they begin cleanup,” Crawford said. “Farmers could receive help through USDA’s Emergency Conservation Program which would help with debris removal, broken terraces and downed fences, but Congress would have to approve funding for that.”