BY BILLY BRUCE
The Valdosta Daily Times
September 08, 2007 06:33 pm
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VALDOSTA — The bad news first: There is no help in sight from the federal government for farmers who are in the middle of finishing up a dismal growing year that was hammered by an Easter freeze, a drought that still hasn’t ended and the wildfires that destroyed everything from timber to honey bees.
Emergency, low interest loans are currently all that is available to farmers who need help to finish the year. That’s little comfort to growers who may be out hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses. It could be 2008 or longer before the federal government gets around to passing a new farm bill. The current law was passed by Congress in 2002 and expires in 2007.
With no new farm bill, federal support programs such as the Direct and Counter-cyclical (DCP) Payments will end this year. The DCP program was enacted to help base crop growers that produce cotton, wheat, peanuts, corn and others.
The last DCP payments will be deposited into personal bank accounts sometime during the first weeks of October, a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) states.
Just announced this week, the USDA reports that there will be a final 2006 crop cotton and peanut counter-cyclical payment to eligible producers enrolled in the DCP program, said Terrie Wolford, county executive director with the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.
The FSA office is located at 2108 E. Hill Ave., and supports farmers and agriculture in Lowndes, Echols, Lanier and Clinch counties.
“This couldn’t come at a better time, obviously with everyone having problems with the drought and the other problems,” Wolford said. “This means there will be an additional 13.73 cents per pound for cotton and an additional $104 per short ton of peanuts. It will be paid within the next two to three weeks for enrolled participants.”
Producers who did not elect to receive an advance direct payment will receive their entire direct payment for the year in one lump sum after the end of the fiscal year, which ends on September 30, the release states.
“Unless we get a new farm bill, this will be the last payment from this program,” said Wolford.
The good news? Livestock and row crop farmers who suffered losses from the drought that stifled South Georgia in 2005 and 2006 can apply for federal relief money at the FSA office.
Wolford announced two programs that will offer some financial relief to qualifying applicants:
• Livestock Compensation Program: Eligible livestock producers can apply to receive benefits under the Livestock Compensation Program starting Monday (September 10). The livestock program covers feed losses that occurred because of a natural disaster from Jan. 1, 2005 to Feb. 28, 2007.
• Crop Disaster Program: Eligible farmers who suffered quantity losses to their crops in 2005 and 2006 can sign up for the Crop Disaster Program beginning October 15. In the case of prevented plantings, farmers whose crops were in the ground before Feb. 28, 2007 can qualify.
Some bad news: Farmers can only apply for benefits in one of the years, either 2005 or 2006, a USDA press release states.
Also, from the same release: “Only producers who obtained crop insurance coverage or coverage under the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program for the year of the loss will be eligible. Producers must have suffered quantity losses in excess of 35 percent to be eligible.”
Wolford’s FSA staff will train on how to take applications and determine benefits prior to the October 15 start of the application process. “We have not yet received the forms or the policies that will guide this program from Washington D.C. yet, but we are told we’ll have it all in place in time for the start of the application process,” Wolford said.
Because all four of the local FSA’s counties were included in U.S. Secretary of Agriculture designations of South Georgia regions as drought stricken, livestock and crop farmers in all counties may qualify for the two programs, Wolford said.
Livestock farmers can receive up to $10.66 per head for cows and bulls and $8 per head for non-adult animals 500 pounds or more, a USDA fact sheet on the program states.
Farmers tempted to call in to seek estimates on how much money they might qualify for under either program are encouraged not to do so “because we have no firm figures or policies in hand yet and Washington frowns on us trying to make estimates that may not be accurate,” Wolford said.
The local FSA office has been getting many calls from farmers wanting to know if any relief is coming for the 2007 disasters, and many will be confused by the fact that these programs are specifically for drought damage caused in 2005 and 2006, Wolford said.
“But that is why we’re here, to guide them through the often confusing bureaucracy, and we’re glad to do it,” she said. “If they show up here early, before the application process begins, we may not have forms for them or know the policies yet, but we’ll take their name and tell them what we know as of that point, and get them up on how to complete the process when it starts.”
Farmers can get updates and information at http://www.fsa.usda.gov. Also, inquiries can be made by calling Wolford’s office at 229-242-0575, or e-mailing Wolford at Terrie.Wolford@ga.usda.gov.
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