Disaster Assistance Enrollment May Begin As Early As This Summer

Writer: Tim W. McAlavy, (806) 746-6101, email: t-mcalavy@tamu.edu

LUBBOCK – Farmers and ranchers who qualify for disaster assistance under the Agricultural Assistance
Act passed by Congress on Feb. 13 will soon be able to enroll at their county USDA Farm Service Agency
(FSA) office, according to Jim Little, FSA administrator based in Washington, DC.

“We now know that we (USDA) will have $3.1 billion available for producers who qualify for this
assistance,” Little told a crowd of South Plains producers attending the 2003 Southwest Crops Production
Conference & Expo here. “Of that total, $2.145 billion will go to qualifying crop producers, $365 million
will go to livestock producers, and $589 million is earmarked for miscellaneous payments.”

Congress passed the Agricultural Assistance Act last week as part of its fiscal year 2003 omnibus
appropriations bill. It authorizes payments to crop producers who suffered losses of at least 35 percent of
their normal yields in 2001 and 2002; as well as livestock producers who lost animals or forage/feed crops
due to drought or other natural disasters.

“There will be $115 million to compensate qualifying producers for lost animals under the Livestock
Compensation Program, and $250 million to compensate producers for lost forage/feed crops under the
Livestock Assistance Program,” Little said. “The $589 million in miscellaneous expenses will cover
payments for a New Mexico water program; pesticide damage claims; the cottonseed program and FSA’s
salaries and expenses to implement the act.”

If current enrollment in new farm bill programs proceeds apace through the June 2nd sign up deadline,
qualifying producers may be able to sign up for disaster assistance this summer.

“If you are staying in the farm program, you must have your base and yield selections made by April 1, and
you must complete your farm program sign up by June 2. We will deal with those priorities first, then begin
the process of disaster assistance enrollment,” Little said. “Right now, we think about 43 percent of all
eligible producers nationwide have enrolled in the new farm program outlined in the current farm bill.

“If you haven’t begun your farm bill/program enrollment, it will help greatly if you bring your base and
yield numbers, past production records, and lease agreements with you when you visit your county FSA
office. More and more producers are opting to receive electronic payments under the new farm bill, rather
than the traditional paper checks.”

That is easing the complications FSA offices often encounter when helping producers enroll in a new farm
program, he added. Meanwhile, USDA planners are working on a process to help streamline
implementation the new disaster aid program, including writing software for the Livestock Assistance
Program.

As part of the disaster aid implementation process, USDA will launch a producer-friendly website next
week that will contain information about the disaster assistance programs; questions and answers; and
other pertinent information. The website will also solicit input from producers and others on how USDA
can best move the implementation process forward.

Meanwhile, Little said producers can always find farm program information, fact sheets, pertinent
enrollment forms and other helpful tools from county FSA offices or on the Internet at:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/default.asp.

More than 150 producers attended the annual Southwest Crops Production Conference sponsored by
Southwest Farm Press, Texas Cooperative Extension, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas
Tech University, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Plains Cotton Growers, Inc.