DUNKERTON -- A $3.8 billion trust fund established in the new Farm Bill will help growers weather natural disasters.

Northeast Iowa farmers need it.

An EF5 tornado tore across Butler, Black Hawk and Buchanan counties on May 25 destroying farmsteads in its path. Less than three weeks later, record flooding wiped out an estimated 3 million acres of crops statewide.

The 2008 Farm Bill was officially passed June 18. Congress originally approved the bill a few days before the tornado hit, but a clerical error forced the House and Senate to approve and override a presidential veto again.

Financial assistance is available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help local farmers. The problem is most are so busy cleaning up damaged farms and fields or dealing with insurance issues that they haven't had time to investigate what's available.

Barb Dos and her husband, Jim, lost their custom chicken and hog feeding operation in the tornado. Two hundred-plus mile-per-hour winds turned two 400-head hog buildings and three chicken houses capable of housing 191,000 birds into a pile of rubble.

On Tuesday, Bell Savage Co. was picking up scrap metal at the farm. Barb managed the livestock operation and Jim works full-time at the Dunkerton School District as a computer technician. She hasn't had enough time or energy to research government assistance for farmers.

"We haven't explored that yet," Barb Dos said. "We're just trying to deal with this mess."

Government employees say that's pretty common. Grain and livestock producers are making inquiries about disaster aid, but not in large numbers.

Losses to buildings, equipment and crops are estimated in the billions in rural Iowa, officials said.

For ag-related losses, farmers need to contact local Farm Service Agency or Natural Resources Conservation Services offices for help. A slew of programs exist -- ranging from low-interest loans for facility and equipment replacement and money to cover crop damage to cost-share assistance for land rehabilitation -- to help growers stay in business and help cover losses if private insurance falls short.

Lon Janechek, farm loan manager for Buchanan and Lynn counties, said about a dozen farmers have called about the emergency loan program. He expects many more in the future.

"Many are still trying to assess what losses will be," Janechek said.

For the first time, a disaster title was included in the Farm Bill, so Congress doesn't have to pass emergency spending bills to aid farmers when Mother Nature pushes them to the brink of financial ruin.

The SURE -- Supplement Revenue Assistance Payments -- program is a new addition. Crops within a geographic region declared a federal natural disaster area qualify as long as the producer has insurance and production losses total 50 percent or more on the entire farm. Producers have until Sept. 16 to "buy-in" on crops that weren't insured for $100 per crop per county and not more than $900 total.

SURE will provide additional revenue beyond crop insurance, but how much and when is still undetermined. Federal officials said the tornado and flooding hit before the mechanics of the bill could be worked out.

"I think right now it's wait and see. I don't know how many (farmers) will be eligible," said Rose Woerner, Black Hawk County FSA director.

Sen. Chuck Grassley of New Hartford isn't sure if some farmers can wait. He co-sponsored a bill to speed up payments.

"When the Finance Committee wrote the Disaster Trust Fund provision, it was always our intent that USDA would be able to give advance payments. - I know it's a little more work to make advance payments, but that's no excuse to leave farmers hanging who just had homes and their livelihoods washed away by floods," Grassley said in a prepared statement.

Rick Happel's rural Dunkerton farm was almost wiped off the map. Like many farmers focused on rebuilding, he hasn't explored assistance options from the government.

The laundry list of destruction is extensive: two combines, a 2,400-head hog building (which has been rebuilt), house, five grain bins, grain dryer and two machine sheds. And like many farmers, he found out he's under insured as steel and other construction materials have skyrocketed. It costs 40 percent more today to build a 50,000-bushel bin than 1 1/2 years ago, he said.

Reluctant to go to the FSA office for help, Happel said he probably will. The emergency loan program is the only option for facility replacement, government officials said. The interest rate is 3.75 percent -- about half compared to a commercial bank.

"I never dreamt the entire farm would be wiped out. I'm so darn independent, but if there's programs there that can save me a little money, I'll probably take it," he said.

Even though help is available, Dos says she suspects her farming days are over. The facilities weren't insured and replacement costs are estimated at $1.75 million, she said. With high feed and fuel prices, Dos said rebuilding probably isn't financially prudent.

"We won't have the money," she said "But we haven't gave them (FSA) a chance. We should probably do that."

Contact Matthew Wilde at (319) 291-1579 or matt.wilde@wcfcourier.com.