USDA offers help to farmers affected by drought, fires
Eligible areas for program assistance can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov.
The USDA-Farm Service Agency announced Monday that the sign-up period for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program has begun, which provides compensation to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses due to drought or fire in Puerto Rico.
Juan M. Ortiz-Serbiá, the FSA’s Puerto Rico state executive director, said the 2014 Farm Bill makes the Livestock Forage Disaster Program a permanent initiative and provides retroactive coverage for eligible livestock losses back to October 1, 2011.
Program payments for drought are equal to 60 percent of the monthly feed cost for up to five months. Payments for fire on federally managed rangeland are equal to 50 percent of the monthly feed cost for the number of days the producer is prohibited from grazing the managed rangeland, not to exceed 180 calendar days.
Eligible areas for program assistance can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov. The Drought Mitigation Center has developed a tool to assist producers in determining potential LFP eligibility that may be found at: http://droughtmonitor2.unl.edu/fsa/FsaEligibilityCounty.aspx
