<b>By JANE HOUIN<br>
Ohio Correspondent</b> </p><p> COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s state executive director for the Farm Service Agency (FSA), John Stevenson, announced that USDA has begun issuing disaster payments for crop, livestock and feed losses to farmers and producers in Ohio who suffered losses because of natural disasters.</p><p>
USDA is currently processing about $1 billion in payments under the Crop Disaster Program (CDP), Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) and Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). Sign-up for these programs is ongoing.</p><p>
The programs provide payments to ag producers who suffered crop, livestock and feed losses in 2005, 2006 and before Feb. 28, 2007. But, producers must choose only one year for which to receive payments.</p><p>The Agricultural Assistance Act of 2007 provides a total of approximately $3 billion in agricultural disaster aid for America’s farms and ranchers. The aid will cover crop losses, livestock and feed losses, emergency conservation practices and dairy losses, as well as extending the Emergency Forestry Conservation Reserve Program and the Milk Income Loss Contract.
While $1 billion in payments is a significant sum, Eaton, Ohio dairy farmer Mark Yeazel said much of this legislation – including the current dairy disaster assistance program – is designed to look great in the headlines, but helps few.</p><p>
“The truth is, for any dairyman in any state, if you produce higher than the state average, you are not eligible, even if you lost 20 percent of your production due to drought or disaster,” Yeazel said. “If you are less than the state average and you increase 10 percent, you could still be eligible for assistance.</p><p>
“It is not a good program, nor is it fairly distributed. It looks great on paper until you read the fine details.”</p><p>
When contacting his local FSA about the dairy program, Yeazel said the staff was quick to point out no one in Preble County would benefit from it,</p><p>
“This legislation is designed to look great in the headlines,” Yeazel said. “The public will never know and the politician can say he helped the farmer. It will help only a few, and some of those might not have even been affected by a drought or disaster. They may have been poor managers.”</p><p>
Program details</p><p> CDP provides benefits to farmers who suffered quantity and quality losses from natural disasters and related conditions that happened in 2005, 2006 and for 2007 crops, if the crop was planted or prevented from being planted before Feb. 28, 2007.</p><p>
At this time, USDA is only compensating producers for quantity losses under this program. Payments for the quality losses will not be distributed until early 2008, after sign-up for it.</p><p>
Only producers who obtained crop insurance coverage or coverage under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for the year of the loss are eligible for benefits, and quantity losses must have been more than 35 percent.</p><p>
The payment rate is set at 42 percent of the established price, and the payment for quality losses will be equal to either the actual production of the crop affected or the quantity of expected production of the crop affected by a quality loss, whichever is less. The quality loss must be at least 25 percent of the value of all affected production the crop would have had, had it not suffered a quality loss.</p><p>
Any assistance must not exceed 95 percent of the total value of what the crop would have been without the disaster, when combined with any crop insurance or NAP payment for the same crop.</p><p>
Farmers can receive a maximum of $80,000 in CDP benefits, but can also receive benefits under LIP.</p><p>
The LCP compensates livestock producers for feed losses resulting from natural disasters that occurred between Jan. 1, 2005, and Feb. 28, 2007.</p><p>
Producers who suffered losses caused by blizzards that started in 2006 and continued into 2007 are eligible. Producers in primary or contiguous counties which were declared secretarial disaster areas or counties declared presidential disaster areas between Jan. 1, 2005, and Feb. 28, 2007, are also eligible.</p><p>
Eligible livestock operations include dairy cattle, beef cattle, buffalo, beefalo, equine, poultry, elk, reindeer, sheep, goats, swine and deer.</p><p>
The payment rate for each livestock category will be 61 percent of the national payment rate, which is yet to be determined.</p><p>
Producers will not be penalized if they reduce the average number of livestock they owned for grazing during the production year for which the assistance is being provided. Producers may receive a maximum of $80,000 in LCP benefits.</p><p>
The LIP compensates livestock producers for losses between Jan. 1, 2005, and Feb. 28, 2007, that were caused by natural disasters, including blizzards that started in 2006 and continued into 2007. Producers in primary or contiguous counties that were declared secretarial disaster areas or counties declared presidential disaster areas between Jan. 1, 2005, and Feb. 28, 2007, are also eligible.
Livestock eligible for this program are similar to the LCP program, with the exceptions of reindeer, elk and deer, and with the additional inclusion of crawfish and catfish.</p><p>
The payment rate will be 26 percent or above the market value of the livestock on the day before the date of death. These rates will be available at local FSA service centers during the sign-up period. Producers can receive a maximum of $80,000 in LIP benefits.
Farmers and producers can learn more about the details of these programs, as well as apply to receive benefits through these and other disaster programs by visiting their local FSA service center.
To find out additional details, visit http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov where a link to a listing of eligible counties is also available.</p><p> |
