NAPA COUNTY FARM BUREAU

Sign Up Period for Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments for 2009 Losses Has Opened – Deadline is July 29, 2011

WASHINGTON, Jan. 11, 2011 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reminds eligible producers that the sign-up period for the 2009 crop year Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) program has opened. SURE is one of five disaster programs included in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill) that provides assistance to farmers and ranchers who have suffered losses due to natural disasters.

To be eligible for SURE a farm or ranch must have:

• At least a 10 percent production loss on a crop of economic significance;

• A policy or plan of insurance under the Federal Crop Insurance Act or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) for all economically significant crops;

• Been physically located in a county that was declared a primary disaster county or contiguous county by the Agriculture Secretary under a Secretarial Disaster Designation. Without a Secretarial Disaster Designation, individual producers may be eligible if the actual production on the farm is less than 50 percent of the normal production on the farm due to a natural disaster.

Producers considered socially disadvantaged, a beginning farmer or rancher, or a limited resource farmer may be eligible for SURE without a policy or plan of insurance or NAP coverage.

Farmers and ranchers interested in signing up must do so before July 29, 2011.

 For more information on the 2009 SURE program, visit any FSA county office or http://www.fsa.usda.gov/sure

USDA Announces Implementation of Livestock Disaster Assistance Programs

Producers may apply for benefits under the provisions of the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP). These permanent disaster programs, authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill, replace previous ad-hoc disaster assistance programs and are funded through the Agricultural Disaster Relief Trust Fund.

LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers that have suffered livestock grazing losses due to qualifying drought or fire.  For drought, the losses must have occurred on land that is native or improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover or a crop planted specifically for grazing.

The drought losses must also have occurred during the normal grazing period for the specific type of grazing land in the county.  For fire, LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses on rangeland managed by a federal agency if the eligible livestock producer is prohibited by the federal agency from grazing the normal permitted livestock on the managed rangeland due to a qualifying fire. 

Eligible livestock under LFP include beef cattle, alpacas, buffalo, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, poultry, reindeer, sheep and swine.  For losses due to drought, qualifying drought ratings are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor located at http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html.

ELAP provides emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish that have losses due to disease, adverse weather or other conditions, including blizzards and wildfires. Further detail on eligibility criteria is available at your local FSA office.

Assistance for producers through ELAP is for losses not covered under other Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance programs established by the 2008 Farm Bill. These include LFP, the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE).  ELAP is being implemented to help fill the gap and provide assistance under other eligibility conditions determined to be appropriate.

For crop years 2009 through 2011, the $100,000 limitation applies to payments received, both directly and indirectly, by a person or legal entity.  Furthermore, individuals or entities are ineligible for payment under ELAP or LFP for 2008 if their average Adjusted Gross Income for 2005, 2006 and 2007 exceeds $2.5 million.  For 2009 through 2011,  an average adjusted gross nonfarm income limitation of $500,000 applies and is determined using the three taxable years that precede the most immediately preceding complete taxable year (for 2009, the applicable years are 2005, 2006 and 2007). 

For more information or to apply for ELAP or LFP and other USDA Farm Service Agency disaster assistance programs, please call your local USDA Service Center or local Farm Service Agency (FSA) at (707) 944-0622 to schedule an appointment with a staff expert.

General information can also be obtained on the FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov.