Issues - Disaster Programs NEWS

NEWS UPDATES

July 29, 2008 - Farmers without crop insurace or NAP may certify crops for disaster programs until Sept. 16, 2008

April 22, 2008 - Cost-Share Program to Help N.C. Farmers Recovering from Drought

January 28, 2008 - Farmers Should Sign Up Now for 2007 Disaster Damages

December 17, 2007 - Deadline for 2005 - Feb. 2007 Disaster Programs Extended

August 27, 2007 - USDA Announces Sign-Ups for Losses Suffered Feb. 28 - Dec 31, 2007

May 29, 2007 - USDA Declares NC Counties Disaster Area; Congress Approves Disaster Provisions

Farmers without crop insurace or NAP may certify crops for disaster programs until Sept. 16, 2008 - July 29, 2008

Congress added a waiver to the 2008 Farm Bill standing disaster programs that allows farmers who do not have either crop insurance or NAP to pay an administrative fee and certify their crops for disaster program participation. The deadline for this certification is September 16, 2008. Read the FSA fact sheet on the sign up here.

This is an important deadline for N.C. producers, especially small scale, specialty market and livestock producers. If they do not sign up now, they will not be eligible for disaster payments later.

Over the last few years, several important disaster programs have required participation in risk management programs, either crop insurance or the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for eligibility. Several of the provisions of the new standing disaster program in the 2008 farm bill also require this participation. The waiver was enacted because the 2008 sign up period for these programs had expired before the farm bill passed.

This sign up is especially important for small farms, specialty crop farms and direct or specialty market farms because risk management programs are least economically feasible for these farms, and they are therefore less likely to have the required participation. This sign up period allows them to gain access to the disaster programs that are taking shape in USDA. If they do not sign up before the September 16 deadline, they will not be eligible.

Several added notes: Farmers who would be considered socially disadvantaged, limited resource or beginning farmers or ranchers can request a waiver of the administrative fees. This requirement includes eligibility for assistance for pasture, which can be covered under the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, so this sign up is important for farmers who are continuing to struggle with the drought’s effects on pastures.

While the deadline for this sign up is September 16, USDA officials have stated that they will probably not finish the development of regulations for the new disaster programs before the next administration, meaning that payments will not take place for at least a year to 18 months.

The new standing disaster program includes:

the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payment Program (SURE),
the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP),
the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Tree Assistance Program (TAP), and
the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (EALHF).

For more information on these programs, see the Farm Services Agency disaster Assistance web site at www.fsa.usda.gov, or the Farmers Legal Action Group web site at www.flaginc.org.

There has been a significant amount of confusion about this sign up.
If farmers ask in their FSA office and the staff there are not aware of the sign up, they should refer to FSA Notice DAP-285, which was issued by the FSA national office on July 8, 2008.

Cost-Share Program to Help N.C. Farmers Recovering from Drought
April 22, 2008

RALEIGH - North Carolina farmers reeling from drought can obtain help under a program unveiled Tuesday in Raleigh. The program will cover 75 percent of the cost of restoring drought-damaged pastureland and providing additional
water supply for livestock and crops.

The N.C. Agricultural Drought Recovery Program will be administered statewide through local Soil and Water Conservation district offices beginning May 1. It was made possible by a $6 million grant from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last year designated 85 of North Carolina's 100 counties as natural disaster areas. As of April 8, 80 counties remained under drought conditions with the other 20 considered abnormally dry.

Farmers affected by the drought may apply to one of the state's 96 Soil and Water Conservation district offices for help with several types of projects. These include pasture renovation, drilling and redrilling wells, pond construction and renovation, converting closed lagoons to fresh water ponds,
and upgrading existing irrigation systems to more efficient models. The program is open to farmers with a total adjusted gross income of less than $250,000 or those who derive 75 percent of their income from farming operations.

Read the complete press release here.

Farmers Should Sign Up Now for 2007 Disaster Damages
January 28, 2008

The USDA has announced the start of the sign-up period for disaster damages between February 28, 2007 and December 31, 2007. Eligible farmers should visit their local Farm Services Agency to sign up. North Carolina farmers who experienced freeze damages should have already signed up for damages because last spring's freeze was included in the previous program.

Note that this extension includes the provision requiring participation in either crop insurance or the non-insured crop disaster assistance program (NAP) as a prerequisite for participation in the crop disaster program. Livestock producers who had drought losses should definitely go in and sign up.

Deadline for 2005 - Feb. 2007 Disaster Programs Extended
December 17, 2007

The Raleigh news and Observer is reporting on its Web site that Congressman Etheridge has announced a deal to extend the deadline for the disaster programs created last spring through December 31.

If you recall, on May 25, President Bush signed the "U.S.Troop Readiness, Veteran's Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007." This act provided several of the ad hoc disaster programs for 2005 through crops planted before February 28 of 2007, including the Easter freeze. This move simply extends the eligibility to include disasters through December 31, including the drought.

Authorized programs include Crop Disaster Assistance program, which provides payments for crop losses, the Livestock Indemnity Program, which provides payments for livestock losses including both mortality and financial losses due to early sales, the Livestock Compensation program, which provides payments for loss of livestock feed, and the Emergency Conservation Program for damage to land and the cost of returning land to productive use, which can include wells.

We want to applaud Congressman Etheridge and the others in Congress who are making this happen. There are several important benefits to this approach. First, by extending the existing programs, this legislation provides farmers with access to ad hoc disaster programs far more quickly than they would otherwise. Note that the initial bill covered disasters from 2005 through 2007. Instead of waiting for 2 years, farmers will get benefits from this year's drought far more quickly.

Second, as in several recent ad hoc programs, the livestock Indemnity program includes losses to contract producers. This is an important precedent, and we hope continues when congress acts on the proposed standing disaster bill that is in the Senate version of the farm bill.

As we reported with the passage of the initial legislation back in May, this set of programs, while important and very timely, has several gaps that have significant ramifications for agricultural economic development and farm innovation.

* All programs will compensate farmers based on the conventional wholesale price of their products as reported by USDA. Many innovative farmers are able to add value to their crops either through production practices such as certified organic, or through marketing, such as direct markets. These farmers will have a far lower percentage of their losses covered. This creates an economic disincentive to innovative marketing, and farmers following emerging, high-value markets.

* Compensation programs require participation in either crop insurance or the Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, or NAP. This requirement makes sense for farmers for whom crop insurance or NAP make financial sense. However, in many situations such as diverse operations with value-added products, crop insurance and NAP participation is not a fiscally sound choice. The benefits do not outweigh the costs, be they financial or administrative. In these situations, disaster programs exacerbate rather than address existing holes in the safety net.

I would also add that I have just released a full report outlining how the changing demographics of North Carolina agriculture have reduced our state's coverage under existing disaster programs. Both the full report and the executive summary of "Disaster Programs and the Changing Face of Agriculture in North Carolina" are available from our web site.

For more information, read the FSA fact sheet about the May programs and the executive summary of the report.

USDA Announces Sign-Ups for Losses Suffered Feb. 28 - Dec 31, 2007
August 27, 2007

The USDA farm Services Agency has announced the sign up period for the disaster funding that was signed by President Bush on May 25.

The press release is available on the FSA web site. The sign up period for the Crop Disaster Program will start on October 15. The sign up period for the Livestock Indemnity Program and the Livestock Compensation Program will begin September 10. The press release does not specify when the sign-up period will close.

If you have any questions about these programs or the sign up process, please contact Scott Marlow, RAFI Farm Sustainability Program Director, at (919) 542-1396, or by email.

USDA declares NC Counties Disaster Area; Congress Approves Disaster Provisions
May 29, 2007

Two items of interest:

USDA has declared 47 NC counties natural disaster areas based on the Easter freeze. This opens up disaster assistance, including the opportunity for emergency loans through the FSA. The full press release, including the list of declared and contiguous counties, is here.
Disaster provisions were included in the Iraq Supplemental Appropriations bill that was signed by President Bush last week. As expected, it includes crop payments for those who had crop insurance or were enrolled in the Non-insured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), and additional funding for the Livestock Indemnity program and the Livestock Compensation program. The bill covers disasters from 2005, 2006 and 2007 as long as the crop was planted prior to February 28, 2007.? Farmers can receive benefits for 1 of the 3 years.

Read the House Agriculture Committee press release here.

Both of these mean that farmers need to be contacting their FSA offices to request assistance and to make sure that their losses are documented.