Illinois Farm Service Agency April 2020 Bulletin

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[April 16, 2020]     USDA Opened Signup for Added Causes of Loss Under WHIP+ - USDA announced additional disaster assistance available to agricultural producers, including producers impacted by drought and excess moisture. Through WHIP+, USDA is helping producers recover from losses related to 2018 and 2019 natural disasters.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) opened signup on March 23 for producers to apply for eligible losses of drought (D3 or above) and excess moisture.

In June 2019, more than $3 billion was made available through a disaster relief package passed by Congress and signed by President Trump. In December 2019, Congress passed, and President Trump signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 that provides an additional $1.5 billion for the continuation of disaster assistance program delivery.

WHIP+ New Qualifying Disaster Events

The bill added excessive moisture and D3 and D4 drought as qualifying losses for WHIP+ assistance.

Producers who suffered either of these types of loss in 2018 and/or 2019 can apply for WHIP+ assistance at their local FSA office. For drought, a producer is eligible if any area of the county in which the loss occurred was rated D3 (Extreme Drought) or higher on the U.S. Drought Monitor during calendar years 2018 or 2019.

Illinois had no counties that qualified for Extreme Drought in 2018 or 2019.



WHIP+ for Quality Loss

In addition, producers have reported widespread crop quality loss from eligible disaster events that results in price deductions or penalties when marketing the damaged crops. The Appropriations bill expands WHIP+ to include assistance for crop quality loss. FSA is gathering data and input from producers and stakeholders regarding the extent and types of quality loss nationwide.

Eligibility

To be eligible for WHIP+, producers must have suffered losses of certain crops, trees, bushes, or vines in counties with a Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration or a Secretarial Disaster Designation (primary counties only) for the following named natural disaster events; hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, typhoons, volcanic activity, snowstorms, wildfires, and now excessive moisture that occurred in 2018 or 2019. Also, losses located in a county not designated by the Secretary as a primary county may be eligible if the producer provides documentation showing that the loss was due to a qualifying natural disaster event.

For drought, counties having a D3 or D4 Drought Monitor classification in any portion of the county anytime during calendar year 2018 or 2019 will also be eligible.

A list of counties that received qualifying hurricane declarations and designations is available at farmers.gov/recover/whip-plus. The U.S. Drought Monitor is available at https://droughtmonitor. unl.edu/.

Because livestock losses are covered by other disaster recovery programs offered through FSA, these losses are not eligible for WHIP+.

 


Report Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program(NAP)Losses

The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters including freeze, hail, excessive moisture, excessive wind or hurricanes, flood, excessive heat and qualifying drought (includes native grass for grazing), among others.

Eligible producers must have purchased NAP coverage for 2020 crops. A notice of loss must be filed the earlier of 15 days of the occurrence of the disaster or when losses become apparent or 15 days of the final harvest date.

Producers of hand-harvested crops and certain perishable crops must notify FSA within 72 hours of when a loss becomes apparent.

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Eligible crops must be commercially produced agricultural commodities for which crop insurance is not available, including perennial grass forage and grazing crops, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, floriculture, ornamental nursery, aquaculture, turf grass, ginseng, honey, syrup, bioenergy, and industrial crops.

For more information on NAP, contact your local FSA office or visit fsa.usda.gov/nap.


NRCS Announces Sign-up & Deadlines for Special Conservation Projects

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will be offering special funding for four different projects using the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Producers can apply for assistance through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) which will build on their existing conservation efforts while strengthening their operation through specials enhancements that are offered. Please note that each project is open in specific watershed and counties.

Precision Conservation Management (PCM) is an innovative service program designed to apply financial farm business planning with precision conservation technology to help make intelligent conservation decisions. NRCS has partnered with the Illinois Corn Growers Association to help producers address resource concerns such as water quality and soil health. The NRCS PCM RCPP project will be available to producers whose land is located in the following counties: Champaign, Christian, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Livingston, Macoupin, McLean, Sangamon, Tazewell, Vermillion, and Woodford.



NRCS has partnered with the Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Headwaters Invasive Plant Partnership (HIPP) to help producers address resource concerns such as water quality and soil health. The project focus is to reduce soil erosion and improve water quality by improving forest health in the following 11 counties: Champaign, Coles, Cumberland, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Iroquois, Livingston, Piatt and Vermilion. Financial assistance will be available to producers in east-central Illinois who have land in the above-mentioned counties.

Illinois NRCS will offer funding in Macoupin County for the Upper Macoupin Creek Watershed using the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). NRCS has partnered with American Farmland Trust to help local producers address natural resource concerns, namely degraded water quality and soil erosion. The project focus is to improve water quality in the Upper Macoupin Creek Watershed located in portions of Macoupin County. Financial assistance will be available to producers whose land is located in the Upper Macoupin Creek Watershed.

The Mississippi River Basin-Big Bend Enhancing Water-Soil-Habitat Quality project uses the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP), NRCS, and the Marshall-Putnam Soil and Water Conservation District to help producers address resource concerns such as degraded water quality and soil erosion. The project focus is to improve water quality in Marshall and Putnam Counties.

While applications are accepted throughout the year, interested producers should submit an application to their local NRCS field office by the cutoff date of May 29, 2020, to ensure their applications are considered for 2020 funding. To see if you are eligible to participate in the program, producers should contact their local NRCS field office or visit the Illinois NRCS website at www.il.nrcs.usda.gov. Due to the evolving COVID-19 situation, producers may set up phone appointments with their local NRCS office if they have any questions or need information.

[USDA Farm Service Agency]

 

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