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USDA Announces Payments

published: August 22nd 2008
source: USDA

MITCHELL, S.D.,  - Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced that farmers and ranchers will receive USDA funding to repair land damage created by natural disasters in 34 states since September 2007.

Producers will use the $87.5 million in Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) funding for removal of farmland debris, restoring fences and repairing conservation structures which were caused or damaged by floods, and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures in response to severe drought.

"This funding will allow farmers and ranchers to repair the unusually harsh damage to conservation efforts caused by the disaster conditions, notably flooding and drought," said Schafer.  "USDA has worked shoulder to shoulder with producers when weather turns against them, and we remain involved to help in the weeks and months of recovery afterward." 

For land to be eligible, the natural disaster must create new conservation problems that:
if untreated, will impair or endanger the land;
materially affect the land's productive capacity;
represent unusual damage that, except for wind erosion, is not of the type likely to recur frequently in the same area; and would be so costly to repair that federal assistance is or will be required to return the land to productive agricultural use.

All of the above conditions must be met for eligibility.  Conservation problems existing prior to the disaster are not eligible for cost-share assistance.   FSA county committees determine land eligibility based on on-site inspections of damage, taking into account the type and extent of damage. 

The states and estimated dollar amounts for ECP funding are: 
$87,527,100 to Rehabilitate Lands for Emergency Conservation Needs
Alabama $359,000                    Mississippi     $431,000
Arkansas $4,633,000           Montana         $1,683,000
California  $27,000               North Carolina  $766,000
Colorado   $354,600             Nebraska        $2,010,000
Connecticut $51,000             Nevada          $187,000
Georgia $4,089,000              Oklahoma        $10,219,000
Hawaii  $415,000                  Oregon              $579,000
Iowa    $12,208,500             South Carolina  $782,000
Idaho   $93,000                   South Dakota    $1,825,000
Illinois  $9,473,000              Tennessee       $4,491,000
Indiana $10,742,000             Texas   $5,767,000
Kansas  $610,000                 Utah    $193,000
Kentucky   $2,840,000          Virginia        $1,400,000
Maine   $101,000                  Vermont $45,000
Michigan    $34,000              Washington      $2,298,000
Minnesota    $713,000            Wisconsin       $3,037,000
Missouri      $5,051,000           Wyoming $20,000

A detailed list of counties and associated specific disasters is on FSA's Web site at:  http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/ecpcounties.pdf.  A national map with a visual depiction of the affected counties and disaster types is on the FSA Web site at:  http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/ecpmap.pdf.  The $87.5 million comes from an appropriation of $89.4 million for ECP.  The remainder will be allocated as additional requests are processed.  For further information on eligibility requirements as well as applications, producers may visit their local FSA office or online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

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