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USDA Disaster Assistance to Help Thousands of Honeybee, Livestock
and Farm-Raised Fish Producers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
announced that nearly 2,500 applicants will receive
disaster assistance through the Emergency Assistance
for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish
Program (ELAP) for losses suffered from Oct. 1,
2011, through Sept. 30, 2013.
The Farm Bill caps ELAP disaster funding at $20
million per federal fiscal year. To accommodate the
number of requests, which exceeded funds available
for each of the affected years, payments will be
reduced to ensure that all eligible applicants receive a
prorated share of assistance.
The program, re-authorized by the 2014 Farm
Bill, provides disaster relief to livestock, honeybee,
and farm-raised fish producers not covered by other
agricultural disaster assistance programs. Eligible
losses may include excessive heat or winds, flooding,
blizzards, hail, wildfires, lightning strikes, volcanic
eruptions, and diseases, or in the case of honeybees,
losses due to colony collapse disorder. Beekeepers,
most of whom suffered honeybee colony losses,
represent more than half of ELAP recipients.
ELAP was made possible through the 2014 Farm
Bill, which builds on historic economic gains in rural
America over the past five years, while achieving
meaningful reform and billions of dollars in savings
for the taxpayer. Since enactment, USDA has made
significant progress to implement each provision of
this critical legislation, including providing disaster
relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk
management tools; expanding access to rural credit;
funding critical research; establishing innovative
public-private conservation partnerships; developing
new markets for rural-made products; and investing
in infrastructure, housing and community facilities
to help improve quality of life in rural America. For
more information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill.
“As promised, we’re making sure that thousands
of producers who suffered through two and a half
difficult years without Farm Bill assistance, are
getting some relief,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack “Once the Farm Bill was restored, not only
did we implement the disaster assistance programs in
record time, we’re issuing payments less than three
months after the enrollment deadline. The funds will
hopefully help producers with some of the financial
losses they sustained during that time.”
2 West Virginia Farm Bureau News
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