The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency in New York State reminds farmers of federal farm program benefits that may be available to help eligible producers recover from recent drought conditions. Twenty-four New York counties recently received a Secretarial Disaster designation.
There are 15 primary natural disaster counties, they are: Cayuga, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wyoming and Yates; and nine secondary natural disaster counties: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Cortland, Onondaga, Orleans, Oswego, and Wayne.
FSA offers disaster assistance and low-interest loan programs to assist agricultural producers in their recovery efforts following qualifying natural disasters, like drought. Available programs and loans include:
• Emergency Loan Program – Available to producers with agriculture operations located in a county under a Secretarial Disaster designation. These low-interest loans help producers recover from production and physical losses due to drought.
• Emergency Conservation Program – provides emergency funding for farmers and ranchers to implement emergency water conservation measures in periods of severe drought. A producer qualifying for ECP assistance may receive cost-share levels not to exceed 75 percent of the eligible cost of restoration measures. No producer is eligible for more than $200,000 cost sharing per natural disaster occurrence.
The following types of measures may be eligible:
o drilling and deepening wells
o developing spring developments and troughs if needed for livestock water or vineyard/orchard irrigation water supplies
• Livestock Forage Disaster Program – provides compensation to eligible livestock producers who suffer grazing losses for covered livestock due to drought on privately owned or cash leased land. Only available to primary counties
• Tree Assistance Program – provides assistance to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers for qualifying tree, shrub and vine losses due to natural disaster.
• Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program – provides emergency relief for losses due to feed or water shortages which are not adequately addressed by other disaster programs. Only available to primary counties
• Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program – provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters (includes native grass for grazing). Eligible producers must have purchased NAP coverage for 2016 crops.
• HayNet – is an Internet-based Hay and Grazing Net Ad Service allowing farmers and ranchers to share ‘Need Hay’ ads and ‘Have Hay’ ads online. Farmers also can use another feature to post advertisements for grazing land, specifically ads announcing the availability of grazing land or ads requesting a need for land to graze. www.fsa.usda.gov/haynet.
Producers must file a Notice of Loss for failed acres on all crops including grasses in a timely fashion, often within 15 days of the occurrence or when the losses become apparent. Producers of hand-harvested crops must notify FSA of damage or loss within 72 hours of when the date of damage or loss first becomes apparent. For more information on FSA programs, visit http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.
For more information on disaster assistance programs and loans visit www.fsa.usda.gov/ or contact your local FSA Office. To find your local FSA county office, visit http://offices.usda.gov.