Farm Service Agency holds meeting to help farmers understand Farm Bill

Recently the 2014 Farm Bill was passed and that means some changes are being implemented to what is eligible for payout. On Thursday, April 17, Robert Nagel, Executive Director of the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) held a meeting for livestock producers in order to inform them of some of the changes.

The first program introduced by Nagel was the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP).

“What LIP does is it reimburses producers for losses above normal mortality for animals that died during a natural disaster,” Nagel said.

This means that after the normal mortality losses any animal lost due to a natural disaster is eligible, and thus the producer would receive payment based on the animal.

“For this program we were authorized to start it up retroactively, we’re going back to 2012, 13, and 14, and forward. Record keeping is a must. We’re going to have to establish the producer’s inventory. We have to know the amount of cattle the producer had so that their natural mortality rate can be determined and then see if they will qualify for benefits,” Nagel said.

One thing Nagel talked about was that it’s very important for producers to have some sort of documentation that can be referred to in order to prove the amount of inventory they started out with. So, for example, if a blizzard occurred they would have to know how many head of cattle they had to start with. This will allow the natural mortality rate to be determined. Then they would determine their losses. The cattle they would receive payment for would be ones that were in excess of the natural mortality rate.

“The biggest misconception with this program is that, ‘once I lose the normal mortality, all animals lost after that are eligible,’ But that’s wrong the only ones that would be eligible after you hit that normal mortality mark are the ones that you can show died from a natural disaster or adverse weather event,” Nagel said.

There is other criteria concerning the eligibility of livestock for LIP. Aside from, the animal dying as the result of adverse weather on or after October 1, 2011, they must have died within 60 calendar days from the ending of the adverse weather that is said to have killed them. It must have occurred within the calendar year that the benefits are being requested. The livestock must have been for a commercial use or as part of a farming operation on the day they died.

Livestock excluded from the LIP include wild free roaming animals, pets or animals used for recreational purposes. Recreational purpose animals include animals used for activities such as hunting, roping, or for show.

The payment amount on cattle is 75 percent of the fair market value. According to Nagel, that price would be $1,053 for one head of cattle.

In order to reap the retroactive benefits of the LIP program, producers must record their inventory and losses by December 31, 2014. However, for the rest of the current year and the future, eligible notice of loss must be submitted within 30 calendar days of when the loss of livestock is apparent to the producer. The producer must be able to provide documentation of their losses and the show evidence of the location that the loss of inventory occurred.

“Pictures is probably one of the best things that you can do. Everyone is carrying around these camera phones now, take a picture. If you lose an animal out in a blizzard or something, it froze to death, take a picture of it. That’s very good documentation. All else fails, third party verification by a neighbor, the county committee can take a look at and potentially accept,” Nagel said.

The second program discussed at the FSA meeting was the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP).

“Our big program is going to be the livestock forage disaster program. That program there is for producers that lost any amount of grazing benefits on their pastures in 2012, 2013, 2014 and on so we’re retroactive going back to 2012, and 2012 was our big drought year, we had guys that didn’t even put cattle out to pasture,” Nagel said.

This program seems to be the most beneficial of the two that were discussed at the FSA meeting. It addresses the losses that occurred during the year that was plagued by drought and is very generous with pay out.

“Right now with this program if you own cattle and own pasture or rent pasture and had any kind of grazing loss we don’t care if it’s one day or six months you’re qualified for benefits through this program in my thirty-plus years I have never seen so much money available through that program,” Nagel said.

Counties that are eligible for drought include livestock producers that own or lease grazing land or pasture land located in a county that has been rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as a D2, D3, or D4. A map of eligible counties can be found at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov. Much like with the LIP the LFP must have an inventory amount on record.

“You’re going to need to come into the office and you’ll need to be able to tell us your beginning inventory of cattle in 2012. That’s the most important part, then we’re going to look at your acreage reports that you certified to us, your pastures and if you didn’t file your pastures because they weren’t required, we’re going to get the pastures certified,” Nagel said.

Eligible livestock for LFP must have been owned, purchased or entered into a contract to purchase during the 60 days prior to the date for qualifying drought or fire conditions. They must have been held by a contract grower or sold or otherwise disposed of due to qualifying drought condition. If they were maintained for commercial use as part of a farming operation on the date that began an eligible drought or fire condition, they are eligible. They are not livestock kept for purposes other than commercial or farming use.

There are also qualifications for the producers themselves and their acreage. There are some changes to how the FSA sees land accountability now.

“One of the biggest changes is you remember when you’re certifying pasture you certify what you own, what you kept leased, but if you rented somebody’s pasture on a per animal unit per day we didn’t certify it in your name, we certified it in the land owner’s name. With this program, if you provide documentation to the county committee to show that you provided the majority of the upkeep of that pasture or were required by your lease to maintain that pasture, then that pasture is listed under your name,” Nagel said.

The sign-up time for the LFP in order to gain retroactively, must be completed no later than January 2015. For 2015 and subsequent years an application must be submitted no later than 30 days after the year in which the grazing loss occurred. No person or legal entity may receive more than $125,000 from the LIP and LFP combined.

Any questions can be directed to the local FSA office and more information can be found online at http://www.fsa.usda.gov