Drought Disaster Help Offered to Upshur County Livestock Producers
Posted/updated on: September 18, 2015 at 5:15 pm
TYLER – Ranchers and livestock producers in Upshur County may be eligible for assistance from the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) for grazing losses incurred in 2015. That word comes from Chris Lynn, the county executive director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Smith-Upshur-Gregg County. In a news release, Lynn says, “Upshur County recently met qualifying drought ratings that ‘trigger’ eligibility for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program on improved pasture, native pasture and sorghum forage.”
The Livestock Forage Disaster Program provides compensation to livestock producers who have suffered grazing losses due to drought or fire, according to the release. For losses due to drought, qualifying drought ratings are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor; you can go to http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/ to find it. Qualifying fires are those occurring on rangeland managed by a federal agency and the producer is prohibited by the federal agency from grazing the normal permitted livestock on the managed rangeland due to the fire. Eligible livestock include 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 grazing land or pastureland during the normal grazing period.
Applications are required for 2015 losses. To expedite applications, producers who experienced losses in 2015 are encouraged to collect records documenting their losses. Supporting documents may include information related to grazing leases or federal grazing permits, contract grower agreements, and more. Lynn says producers are encouraged to to contact his office for an appointment and to learn what records are required to apply for assistance. For more information, contact the Smith-Upshur-Gregg County FSA office at 903 561-2050 X2. You can also go to http://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/disaster-assistance-program/index for information.
