Iowa farmers who suffered crop losses last year due to natural disasters can expect federal relief soon through the U-S-D-A’s Crop Disaster Program. Steve Phillips, a program specialist at the Iowa Farm Service Agency state office, says in past years, Congress set a certain amount for the payments, but not for 2000.Payments of more than one-point-one billion dollars began going out Friday, March 16th. U-S-D-A has already approved 450-thousand disaster claims from 160-thousand farmers nationwide. Statewide totals aren’t out yet. Phillips says losses had to be at least 35-percent from the crop’s historic yield. He says there was one major foe to Iowa farmers last year — the drought which hit western and southern Iowa was the worst disaster, in addition to isolated flooding and hail storms. For more information, call your nearest Farm Service Agency office.