The president, following an hour-long meeting with five dozen Democratic lawmakers, also issued a letter asking Congress "to take emergency action to address specific stresses now afflicting sectors of the farm economy."

The most direct steps mentioned in the letter were passage of a special $500 million fund to indemnify farmers for repeated disaster losses and a new US donation to the International Monetary Fund.

Earlier, the Republican-controlled Senate, on a party-line vote, defeated the first major challenge to the landmark "Freedom to Farm" law. It was a Democratic proposal for hefty increases in harvest time loans to farmers and to allow up to up to 15 months to repay them instead of the current nine."The important word is the situation is urgent," Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota told reporters at theWhite House. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, who took part in the meeting, said Clinton directed his department to search for legal authority to buy US farm goods for humanitarian donation abroad. He said he hoped to wrap up the research in "a few days...soon."

For two days, there was speculation the Clinton administration would announce a food donation plan, possibly of up to $300 million. Republican senators have suggested a programme of confessional food sales to developing nations and funded from an export subsidy account now going unused. Glickman declined to discuss potential funding sources. Along with giving his support to an indemnity fund, Clinton called for a strengthening of the federally subsidised crop insurance programme and the so-called safety net for farmers, consisting of short-term loans and annual support payments. "A supplemental crop insurance programme for farmers who experience repeated crop losses, a compensation programme for farmers and ranchers whose productive land remainsunder water and extended authority for the livestock disaster programme are examples of the type of emergency actions that could help farmers and ranchers," Clinton wrote.

The Agriculture Department estimates farmer income will drop to $52 billion this year, down five percent from 1997 and well below the nearly $60 billion of 1996, when grain, soybean and cotton prices all hit high levels. While Democrats have focused on changes to the domestic farm programme, Republicans say the cure lies in more aggressive work to expand exports. They also say Democrats overstate the scope of prices declines.