News

Disaster programs now available to producers

Eligible farmers and ranchers can now sign-up for USDA’s disaster assistance programs.  Indiana State Executive Director Julia Wickard says the Farm Service Agency has been waiting a long time to unveil livestock disaster programs.  “We were able to roll out four new disaster programs as permanent law that Congress enacted earlier this year,” she says.  “We’ve actually been able to enact this legislation in record time, about 60 days, which is unprecedented.  The quickest a Farm Bill has been rolled out is a 90 day period.”

AUDIO: Julia Wickard, FSA (3:30mp3)

Wickard tells Brownfield both the Secretary of Agriculture and the President felt it was imperative to provide livestock producers across the country with relief.  Which is why, she says, these four programs were debuted first.  “The programs we’re unveiling today are the Livestock Forage Program, which has been a part of prior Farm Bills; the Livestock Indemnity Program; the Emergency Loss Assistance Program for Honeybees and Farm Raised Fish; and the Tree Assistance Program,” she says.

Johnson county beef producer Keegan Poe says having disaster programs available to livestock producers once again, is a relief. “Any livestock operations, one of their biggest costs is feed costs,” he says.  “When we have these natural disasters it affects our feed availability quite a bit.  It’s really helpful to have these insurance policies, that’s what I use them for – an insurance policy, to keep the livestock in good condition and keep them healthy.”

AUDIO: Keegan Poe, Johnson County (1:00mp3)

Depending on the program and year of the loss, producers have three to nine months to apply.  Producers are urged to contact the local FSA office for information on the types of records needed and to schedule an appointment.