FSA Dealing With Disasters

FSA Dealing With Disasters

FSA Dealing With Disasters. I'm Greg Martin with Washington Ag Today.

Judy Olson, State FSA Executive Director has been busy as have all the staff members of the Farm Service Agency dealing with disaster issues here in the northwest.

OLSON: The weather this last weekend was kind of a relief I think for everyone. It certainly didn't put the fires out bit it certainly helped with the control and the smoke and that has been good news.

FSA offices have been busy dealing with loads of questions regarding the various disaster programs FSA has to help.

OLSON: Probably the number one questions that I've been fielding for a number of weeks, ever since the fires started of course. The ranchers that had their cattle out on range and had just put up their hay stacks for winter, the first one is what do we do with these cows? Can we do emergency haying and grazing on CRP ground and the answer is yes. Then the second question is do we have to take our cows off by September 30th? The answer is no, they can leave those cows out there provided that it meets with their conservation grazing plan until December 15th.

As for losses of hay...

OLSON: It's called ELAP, Emergency Livestock Assistance Program and it compensates producers for a percentage of pasture or forage lost on private lands due to disasters.

Olson says you need to get with your local county FSA office as soon as you can. She says they have been working hard in Okanagan County to get additional workers there to assist.

And that's Washington Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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