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USDA Provides Aid to Flood & Drought Areas
USDA Provides $77 Million Flood & Drought
Areas
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer
today said that farmers and ranchers will receive $77
million in Emergency Conservation Program funds to repair
farmland damaged by natural disasters in 2008.
Producers will be able to use the money to remove farmland
debris, restore fences and repair conservation structures
which were damaged by floods, tornadoes, hurricanes,
storms, wildfires, and to carry out emergency water
conservation measures after severe drought.
"These funds will allow farmers and ranchers to
repair the severe damage to conservation systems caused
by disaster conditions from Hurricanes Ike and Gustav,
as well as the 2008 Midwest Floods," said Schafer.
"USDA has always worked shoulder to shoulder with
producers during a disaster, and we remain committed
to help through the weeks and months of recovery."
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 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 that existed before the disaster
are not eligible for cost-share assistance. USDA's Farm
Service Agency (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 the Emergency
Conservation Program (ECP) are:
| State |
Total |
| Arkansas |
$1,040,000 |
| California |
$168,000 |
| Georgia |
$3,339,000 |
| Hawaii |
$97,000 |
| Illinois |
$447,000 |
| Indiana |
$13,013,000 |
| Iowa |
$17,560,000 |
| Kansas |
$1,184,000 |
| Kentucky |
$67,000 |
| Louisiana |
$16,000,000 |
| Maine |
$10,000 |
| Michigan |
$59,000 |
| Mississippi |
$337,000 |
| Missouri |
$3,420,000 |
| Montana |
$927,000 |
| Nebraska |
$892,000 |
| New Hampshire |
$195,000 |
| New Mexico |
$1,200,000 |
| New York |
$10,000 |
| North Carolina |
$40,000 |
| Ohio |
$375,000 |
| South Carolina |
$95,000 |
| Tennessee |
$2,758,000 |
| Texas |
$13,729,000 |
| Utah |
$45,000 |
| Virginia |
$20,000 |
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| Grand Total |
$77,027,000 |
Resource: U.S. Department of Agriculture
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