WASHINGTON - Twenty-five senators are pushing a bill that would pay an estimated $3.8 billion to farmers and ranchers who suffered agricultural losses in 2005, hoping to add it to a sweeping spending bill that would help pay for the Iraq war.

Sen. Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who is sponsoring the legislation, says farmers "cannot be ignored anymore" as Congress has spent billions on Gulf Coast recovery.

Conrad said that farmers in his own state have lost multiple crops because of rain, frost, floods and anthrax.

"Our producers are in jeopardy," he said.

Seven Republicans have signed on to the legislation, including Sen. Conrad Burns, of Montana, Sen. John Thune, of South Dakota, Sen. Chuck Hagel, of Nebraska, Sen. Mel Martinez, of Florida, Sen. Norm Coleman, of Minnesota and Sens. Jim Talent and Christopher Bond, of Missouri.

Several senators said Tuesday that they are eyeing the spending bill, expected to be considered by the Senate in coming weeks, as a vehicle for the disaster legislation.

A group of agricultural producers wrote the chairmen of the House and Senate appropriations committees earlier this month, asking them to add the agriculture dollars to the spending legislation. The groups cited skyrocketing energy costs as an additional problem facing producers and said that "virtually every state in the nation has been impacted."

The bill would include some assistance for hurricane-impacted states, and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is one of the co-sponsors. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said that he and other supporters of the bill will try to negotiate with additional Gulf-state members to lend their support.

He said that disaster in farm country is less obvious that the damage from Katrina and other hurricanes.

"Katrina's on the television news, so everyone sees that," he said.

Robert Carlson, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, said that the legislation is crucial for the farming industry.

"Without disaster aid, a lot of farmers won't be farming this year," he said.

Carlson, who was in Washington lobbying for the bill Tuesday, said its prospects are fair in the Senate. The House, he said, will be a challenge.

The Senate, which has a higher percentage of farm-state members, has pushed through several agriculture disaster funding packages in recent years. House leaders have often balked at higher spending for agriculture programs.

Franz Matzner, a senior policy analyst for Taxpayers for Common Sense, agrees with the skeptical House members, saying there is no reason to elevate the agricultural sector above other industries.

"The idea that taxpayers should be bailing out a particular economic sector over and over, year after year, is never a sound economic policy - especially at a time when we are facing a deficit and have to make priorities," he said.