Livestock producers who’ve experienced grazing losses due to drought or fire since October 2011 may be eligible for benefits through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture sent out a press release on Sept. 2 in which it encourages producers who have suffered from eligible disaster-related losses to make an appointment with their county Farm Services Agency or start an application before Oct. 1. There’s an online registration process that enables farmers and ranchers to put their names on an electronic list before the deadline to avoid reductions in their potential disaster assistance. Find the list at fsa.usda.gov/disaster-register.
U.S. Agricultural Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the release that the USDA has processed 240,000 applications since disaster enrollments began four months ago.
The Livestock Forage Disaster Program was made possible through the 2014 Farm Bill. It compensates livestock producers, including alpaca, beef cattle, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep, or swine that would have been eating from grazing land or pastureland that was lost due to a drought or fire between October 2011 and December 2014.
The press release said producers forced to liquidate their livestock may also be eligible for benefits. To learn more about the Farm Bill, visit usda.gov/farmbill. To find out about benefits, contact the Farm Service Agency’s Santa Maria office at 928-9269.
This article appears in Sep 4-11, 2014.
