Farmers Urged to Record Hurricane Losses
November 6, 2012 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Juan M. Garcia urged farmers and ranchers affected by Hurricane Sandy to keep thorough records of all losses.
FSA recommends that owners and producers record all pertinent information of natural disaster consequences, including: crop records, including seed and fertilizer purchases; planting and production records; photos of on-farm storage facilities that were destroyed by wind or flood waters; evidence of damaged farm land; documentation of the number and kind of livestock that have died, supplemented if possible by photographs or video records of ownership and losses; dates of death supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts; costs of transporting livestock to safer grounds or to move animals to new pastures; and feed purchases if supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed.
Producers with damaged farmland should contact their local FSA office. The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) may be able to assist producers who need to repair farmland or remove debris due to Hurricane Sandy. FSA currently has $15.5 million available for producers in counties that received a major disaster declaration pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act.
Producers located in counties that have not received a major disaster declaration should visit their local FSA office for information on ECP if funding becomes available in the future.
USDA’s Risk Management Agency reminds producers faced with questions on prevented planting, replant or crop losses to contact their crop insurance agent for more information.
Producers who need emergency credit may receive assistance through the Emergency Loan Program if they need assistance recovering from production and physical losses due to natural disasters. Producers are eligible for these loans as soon as their county is declared a Presidential or Secretarial disaster county.
More information about federal crop insurance is at www.rma.usda.gov. Additional resources to help farmers and ranchers deal with flooding and other damage is at www.usda.gov/disaster.
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