Categorized | Agriculture

USDA offering livestock assistance

MEDIA RELEASE

The USDA Farm Service Agency has announced producers in Hawaii may now begin applying for benefits under the provisions of the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) for crop year 2010.

The USDA Farm Service Agency is committed to meeting the needs of producers who have suffered devastating losses due to a natural disaster. This program ensures that producers who have suffered agriculture losses receive the critical disaster assistance needed to remain financially solvent and help them continue on in their operations.

LFP provides direct payments to eligible livestock producers that have suffered livestock grazing losses due to qualifying drought or fire.

For drought, the losses must have occurred on land that is native or improved pasture-land with permanent vegetive cover or a crop planted specifically for grazing. The drought losses must also have occurred during the normal grazing period for the specific type of grazing land in the county.

For fire, LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses on rangeland managed by a federal agency if the eligible livestock producer is prohibited by the federal agency from grazing the normal permitted livestock on the managed rangeland due to a qualifying fire.

LFP eligibility is limited to producers who have purchased Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) or crop insurance coverage for 2010. Producers who meet the requirements of socially disadvantaged, limited resource or beginning farmer or rancher do not have to meet risk management purchase requirements.

An average adjusted gross non-farm income limitation of $500,000 applies and is determined using the three taxable years that precede the most immediately preceding complete taxable year (for 2010, the applicable years are 2006, 2007, and 2008).

Eligible livestock must be maintained for commercial agricultural use. Eligible livestock under LFP include beef cattle, alpacas, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep and swine.

For losses due to drought, qualifying ratings are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor located at www.drought.unl.edu.dm/monitor.html

Livestock maintained for other than commercial agricultural uses, such as rodeo stock, trail ride horses, or livestock for personal consumption are ineligible for benefits under LFP.

For more information on LFP, contact the USDA Hawaii County FSA Office at 933-8340 or visit the FSA web site at www.fsa.usda.gov.

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