The Department of Agriculture today said it would purchase up to $170 million worth of meat to help livestock producers who are struggling to cope with the drought and soaring corn prices.

President Obama is expected to discuss the announcement, plus other steps the administration is taking to help farmers and ranchers cope with the drought, at campaign stops in Iowa this week, according to the White House.

"Right now, half of the corn crop in America is in poor or very poor condition. Cattle farmers are struggling to feed their animals. Many folks are seeing their livelihoods dry up in front of their eyes," Obama said during his weekly address Saturday. "And if we don't get relief soon, Americans everywhere will start feeling the pinch, with higher prices on grocery store shelves all across the country."

The administration will give the meat to food banks and other federal food nutrition-assistance programs. USDA intends to purchase up to $100 million of pork products, $50 million of chicken products, $10 million of catfish products and $10 million of lamb products.

USDA has the authority to use funds to make such purchases to help producers who have been affected by natural disasters. The drought conditions in the Midwest have caused the price of corn -- a major component in livestock feed -- to soar to more than $8 a bushel.

On Friday, USDA lowered its projections of the corn crop even further, predicting the smallest corn crop in six years and the lowest corn yields per acre since 1995 (Greenwire, Aug. 10).

"These purchases will assist pork, catfish, chicken and lamb producers who are currently struggling due to challenging market conditions and the high cost of feed resulting from the widespread drought," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, a former Democratic governor of Iowa, said today in a statement. "The purchases will help mitigate further downward prices, stabilize market conditions and provide high quality, nutritious food to recipients of USDA's nutrition programs."

Livestock producers have also asked for a waiver of the federal corn ethanol mandate, but the administration has so far relied on other measures to help relieve the drought's impacts. In what Obama on Saturday termed an "all-hands-on-deck" response to the drought, the administration has, for example, opened up conservation lands to emergency grazing and given states access to low-interest emergency loans.

Today, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) asked the Government Accountability Office to examine the nation's freshwater supplies in light of the drought. Calling the drought a "harbinger of what's to come," Markey asked for both a report forecasting future supplies over the next decade and a report on what technologies are available to reduce water consumption and expand supplies.

"The climate is warming, and we have to prepare ourselves for droughts ahead," Markey said today in a statement. "We cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand about this critical issue, because if we do, sand will be all that's left. The reports I am requesting will shed light on what needs to be done to ensure that America has the fresh water needed to survive and prosper."

In Iowa, Obama is also expected to use the drought to push Congress to pass a five-year farm bill.

Before leaving for the August recess, House lawmakers passed a short-term drought-relief measure, punting work on the larger farm bill after disagreements over cuts to nutrition assistance stalled action on the House floor (E&E Daily, Aug. 3). The Senate passed its version of the bill in June in a bipartisan 64-35 vote, and Senate agriculture leaders have urged the House to move on the bill before the current farm bill expires Sept. 30.

"My administration can't do it alone. Congress needs to do its part, too," Obama said in his weekly address. "They need to pass a farm bill that not only helps farmers and ranchers respond to these kinds of disasters, but also makes necessary reforms and gives them some certainty year-round. That's the single best way we can help rural communities right now, and also in the long term."