The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this week has encouraged livestock producers who have disaster-related losses to contact their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) as soon as possible.
Producers should register or begin a Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFDP) application with their county FSA office by the Oct. 1 deadline. As an alternative to calling or visiting the local office in person, the agency has an online application program to put their names on a list before the deadline to avoid reductions in their disaster assistance. Visit www.fsa.usda.gov/disaster-register for more details.
The Livestock Forage Disaster Program is designed for eligible livestock producers who suffered grazing losses due to drought or fire between Oct. 1, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2014. Eligible livestock includes many species of grazing animals, such as alpacas, beef cattle, buffalo, dairy cattle, beefalo, deer, elk, emus, horses, goats, llamas, sheep, swine and all types of poultry that have been or would have been grazing the land or pastureland. Producers who are forced by disaster to remove or sell their livestock may also be eligible for program benefits.
The 2014 Farm Bill eliminated the need to purchase insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Program in order to be eligible for the LFDP assistance.
For more information on the USDA disaster relief program, check out the 2014 Farm Bill Fact Sheet available at www.fsa.usda.gov/farmbill, and the LFDP fact sheet at www.go.usa.gov/5JTk.
Always feel free to contact me throughout the year with any comments, questions, or issues by calling my office at (573) 751-5713 or by visiting my website at www.senate.mo.gov/brown.
Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government. |
