A look at livestock disaster programs

The "blizzard of 2011" descended upon each and every one of us last week with a vengeance. Reports ranged from 15 to 19 inches of snow around the county --that's plenty -- how long until spring? I did wear out my snow shovel -- busted completely in two. My wife suggested that I replace it . . . I'm not sure I want to!

Two topics for this week: livestock disaster programs and a look at the January commodity prices.

USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Jonathan Coppess last week issued a reminder to livestock producers throughout the Plains states and the Midwest that FSA programs may be available to assist them. Many are dealing with harsh winter weather, which is causing serious harm to livestock and forage due to heavy snow, ice and extremely cold temperatures.

"This is turning out to be a tough winter for many ranchers and farmers in the nation's heartland, and learning about our FSA programs is an important step for producers to take," said Coppess. "We need producers to document the number and kind of livestock that have died as a direct result of these winter storms and timely notify their local FSA office of these losses. There may be situations where producers are transporting feed to their livestock. Producers should document these additional costs."

FSA administers several programs that help producers recover from livestock deaths that are beyond normal mortality rates, losses of purchased and/or harvested forage, and with the additional costs of providing or transporting feed. Among the key programs are the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP). For livestock death losses to be eligible under LIP, producers must file a notice of loss with their local FSA office within 30 calendar days from when the loss is apparent to the producer.

Fact sheets for these two programs can be found at http://www.fsa.usda.gov; click on Newsroom, then Fact Sheets.

Coppess also encouraged producers to use Hay Net on the FSA website (http://www.fsa.usda.gov/haynet), an online service that allows producers with hay and those who need hay to post ads so they can make connections. Hay Net is a popular site for farmers and ranchers who have an emergency need, such as the one caused by the current wintry conditions. Individual ads can be posted free of charge by producers who complete a simple online registration form the first time they use the site.

"We encourage all who have suffered a disaster due to the recent cold weather and blizzards to read the fact sheets and visit with their local FSA county office staff so they get a quick start in the recovery process," added Coppess.

Turning to the current commodity prices: We noticed in the office on Friday that the USDA five-day average prices that we use for commodity loan and Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP) purposes, our USDA Posted County Prices (PCP), hit an all-time high for every crop but oats (which was only 3 cents away).

A look at the Kansas Agricultural Statistics (KAS) mid-January prices report shows wheat (averaging $7.55/bu) $2.95 per bushel above last year; corn (showing $5.75/bu) $2.16 above a year ago; and soybeans (averaging $13.30/bu) bringing $3.77 more than January of 2010.

Wow!

Editor's Note: Doug Niemeir is the County Executive Director for the USDA/Farm Service Agency. He can be reached by emailing him at Douglas.Niemeir@ks.usda.gov