After years of delay in Congress over the Farm Bill, ranchers can now apply for livestock forage disaster payments to cover grazing losses during drought conditions during 2012-2014.
The Farm Service Agency could not compensate ranchers for grazing losses in 2012 and 2013 earlier because the program authorized by the Farm Bill expired in 2011, said Paul White, local county executive director for the Farm Service Agency.
Congress funded the program again in the updated Farm Bill that passed in February. June was the earliest local ranchers could begin to apply.
So far, 240,000 applications have been processed nationwide, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a written statement.
Ranchers in Montezuma and La Plata County who had grazing losses while the county was in severe drought from 2012 to 2014 may be eligible as long as they have documentation of their herds and leased land.
Those ranchers that do not call to make an appointment with FSA before Oct. 1 will receive payments reduced 7.3 percent across the board, because of the lingering impacts of sequestration. The sequester, or automatic budget cuts, was put in place during 2011 and meant to force Congress and the White House to agree on a long-term budget reduction plan. But instead the reductions were allowed to take place.
The maximum that ranchers can usually receive in livestock forage disaster payments is $120,000. The sequester cuts would be about $9,000 for farmers receiving the full amount.
The final deadline to apply for these disaster relief payments is Jan. 30.
“I expect pretty good participation through Jan. 30 even with the sequester,” White said.
Eligible livestock includes alpacas, beef cattle, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep or swine that have been or would have been grazing the eligible pasture. Producers forced to liquidate their livestock may also be eligible for program benefits.
In addition, producers did not need to have bought noninsured crop disaster assistance program to be eligible for livestock Forage Disaster Program assistance after a change in the latest Farm Bill.
The Livestock Indemnity Program, which covers livestock deaths due to disaster, will also be cut by 7.3 percent on Oct. 1. Unlike the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, applications for these programs must be fully completed by Oct. 1.
The Farm Service Agency has developed an online registration for the livestock forage disaster program that enables farmers and ranchers to put their names on an electronic list before the deadline to avoid reductions in their disaster assistance. This is an alternative to visiting or contacting the county office.
For more information, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/disaster-register.