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 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] |
