USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is urging livestock producers affected by natural disasters, such as Hurricane Isaac, to keep good records of their livestock and feed losses. FSA recommends that owners and producers record all pertinent information of natural disaster consequences, including:
• Documentation of the number and kind of livestock that have died, supplemented if possible by photographs or video records of ownership and losses;
• Dates of death supported by birth recordings or purchase receipts;
• Costs of transporting livestock to safer grounds or to new pastures; and
• Feed purchases, if supplies or grazing pastures are destroyed.
USDA’s authority to operate the five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 30, 2011. This includes Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE); the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP); the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP); the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP); and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Production losses due to disasters occurring after Sept. 30, 2011, are not eligible for disaster program coverage. The Senate-passed farm bill renews these programs and the House of Representatives passed legislation to renew these disaster programs.