The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Acting State Executive Director, Debby Folsom, reminds farmers and ranchers affected by the recent wildfires that disaster assistance programs are available to support their recovery efforts.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) can assist farmers and ranchers who lost eligible crops and honeybees as a result of a natural disaster. FSA administers a suite of safety-net programs to help producers recover from eligible losses, including the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program. Compensation is also available to producers who purchased coverage through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, which protects non-insurable crops (including native grass for grazing) against natural disasters that result in lower yields, crop losses or prevented planting. Detailed information on all of these disaster assistance programs can be found online at: www.fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
In addition, the FSA Emergency Conservation Program provides funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters. Producers located in counties that receive a primary or contiguous disaster designation are eligible for low-interest emergency loans to help them recover from production and physical losses.
“Recent wildfires have caused devastating losses for many farmers and ranchers in our state,” said Acting SED Folsom. “Over the past several years, wildfires have increased in severity, intensity and cost as the fire season has grown longer. Natural disasters such as wildfires are unavoidable, but USDA has strong safety-net programs to help producers get back on their feet.”
For more information on FSA disaster assistance programs, please contact your local USDA Service Center. To find your local USDA Service Center go to http://offices.usda.gov.
Share this Post