AGRICULTURE REPORT - Katrina: Counting the Damage to Agricul

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Katrina: Counting the Damage to Agriculture
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, September 13, 2005

I'm Barbara Klein with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Boats destoyed by Katrina in New Orleans
New Orleans has always been a busy center for ships and trains. The city is close to the mouth of the longest river system in North America. Normally, thousands of barges¹ travel down the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and other rivers to New Orleans. They carry grain and other crops for export. These flat boats can hold as many as fifteen railroad cars or sixty trucks. More than sixty percent of American corn and soybean exports go through New Orleans.

All that activity stopped when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf³ Coast on August twenty-ninth. Traffic on the lower Mississippi River came to a halt. It is slowly returning to normal. And the port of New Orleans set a goal to restart limited operations for trade ships by September fourteenth.

The American Farm Bureau estimated that the storm caused at least one thousand million dollars in damage to crops and farm animals. Most of the losses are in the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. However, the Farm Bureau says higher transportation and energy costs could add another thousand million to the price of Katrina.

Last week, the Agriculture Department offered emergency aid for producers affected⁴ by the storm. The more than one hundred seventy million dollars in assistance is mostly in the form of loans. A spokesman says more aid will come later.

The Farm Bureau says final estimates of the damage could take weeks or longer. But it said strong harvests of soybeans, corn and cotton in other states should limit any national effects of Katrina. It said the biggest effect might be on the price of sugar from sugar cane² because of a limited supply.

At the same time, prices fell for corn and soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade. But market experts say that could change as the port of New Orleans returns to normal shipping⁵ levels.

The storm hit shortly before committees in Congress were expected to consider proposed cuts in agricultural aid. The chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee said he now expects a delay.

The Agriculture Department says farm earnings⁶ in the United States last year reached a record eighty-two and one-half thousand million dollars. But many farmers could earn less this year. That is because of high fuel prices, as well as high temperatures and dry conditions in the central states.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Barbara Klein.

1 barges   

驳船( barge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tug is towing three barges. 那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。
• There were plenty of barges dropping down with the tide. 有不少驳船顺流而下。

2 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。