Farm Bill Disaster Programs

April 15th is the date when you can start signing up for livestock disaster programs but according to Farm Service Agencies Administrator, Juan Garcia, you really should register sooner.

GARCIA: There's be a lot of new ranchers that may have never participated in our programs so we're encouraging those producers to come in early and let us know of their farm records and be ready by the time we begin signup, we'll do a lot of the initial work beforehand and the signup will go a lot smoother.

He suggests that you check with your local FSA office to determine your eligibility.

GARCIA: I know they're going to come into the office and they'll ask about the programs. We'll be ready to provide them information but any records that they can get before hand, especially on the amount of pasture they own, any pastures that they have leased is very important for all those years they want to file an application for.

Garcia talks about two programs.

GARCIA: The main program that we're going to be administering is the livestock forage program and that provides benefits to producers for their forage losses that they suffer in a period of a calendar year. So they can receive up to five months of payment for an adult beef cow based on the severity of the drought. We use a U.S. drought monitor for eligibility of a certain county so there are some areas that may receive two monthly payments; some three and even in the most extreme drought areas they could receive up to five months of payment. The other program is the livestock indemnity program which covers death losses of their livestock due to a natural disaster.

That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.