Veneman Announces Agricultural Disaster Relief Package
for Hurricane Victims
(BARTOW, Fla.) -- Producers of citrus, fruits,
vegetables and nursery crops located in Florida counties that
have received a Presidential disaster declaration for hurricanes
Charley and Frances will be eligible for special disaster relief,
announced Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today in Bartow.
“We would like to thank the President and
Secretary Veneman for their swift response to the needs of these
segments of the agricultural community in Florida,” said
Carl Loop, Jr., president of Florida Farm Bureau Federation.
“Hopefully the other agricultural industries impacted
will soon receive relief as well.”
Veneman stated that President Bush is committed
to providing relief to Floridians. USDA will use existing funds
and authorities to quickly launch the Florida Hurricane Agricultural
Disaster Assistance in an effort to help growers in their cleanup
efforts and to compensate them for lost crops and trees. Governor
Jeb Bush and Rep. Adam Putnam were also in attendance.
“We are now in the process of determining
agricultural damages from Hurricane Ivan in Florida and other
states, as well as damages to agricultural production beyond
citrus, fruits and vegetables and nursery operations from Hurricanes
Frances and Charley. We will continue to provide the same level
of response to other hurricane-impacted agricultural sectors
as our damage assessments are completed.” Veneman added,
“We also will continue to work with Congress to ensure
adequate funding for hurricane relief.”
Ray Hodge, Florida Farm Bureau’s national
affairs coordinator, has been working diligently with the leadership
in Washington. “Florida Farm Bureau will focus our efforts
on ensuring that all the commodities waiting for assistance
are included in a comprehensive supplemental agricultural disaster
package,” said Hodge. “We are hopeful that the President
will address our needs in his expected package and, if not,
we believe our Congressional delegation will provide the leadership.
We have disaster assistance pending in the Senate and we appreciate
Senators Nelson and Graham for this work.”
Sign-up for citrus, fruits and vegetables and
plasticulture vegetables under Florida Hurricane Disaster Assistance
will begin early October with payments beginning shortly after
sign-up. A sign-up date for nursery producers will be announced
in the very near future.
The Florida Farm Bureau Federation is the state's
largest general-interest agricultural association with more
than 150,000 member-families statewide. There are Farm Bureaus
in 62 counties in Florida, where agriculture comprises a stable,
vital leg of Florida's economy, rivaling the tourism industry
in economic importance. Headquartered in Gainesville, the Federation
is an independent, non-profit agricultural organization and
is not associated with any arm of the government. More information
is available on the organization’s website, http://FloridaFarmBureau.org.
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PAYMENT DETAILS
Citrus Crop Losses for Hurricanes Charley
and Frances
Citrus producers will be reimbursed on a per acre
basis for each eligible grove. Payments will be based on the
severity of destruction as determined by the path of the storms
and damage estimates developed by the Farm Service Agency (FSA)
in cooperation with the Florida Department of Agriculture. The
formula will take into account various levels of losses generally
correlating to the distance from the eye of the hurricanes,
the average production loss, tree loss, and rehabilitation and
cleanup costs. Further explanation is given in the following
table.
Severity of destruction Payment rate per acre for insured producers
($)
Tier 1 >75% crop loss and associated tree damage
1,500
Tier 2 50-75% crop loss and associated tree damage 1,000
Tier 3 35-50% crop loss and associated tree damage 600
Tier 4 <35% crop loss and associated tree damage 100
Payments for eligible fruits and vegetable producers
will be based on a per acre basis, and payments for plasticulture
vegetable producers will be based on the type of planting application
or method installed or completed at the time the hurricanes
hit. Plasticulture refers to production practices where the
soil has been bedded, fumigated, fertilized, drip irrigation
tape installed and plastic-mulch laid. The production cost for
plasticulture is much higher than for conventional row-cropped
vegetables. Payments for plasticulture losses will be made in
three categories based on the relative amount of investment.
The following table provides payment details.
Vegetable Crop Losses for Hurricanes Charley and Frances
(For Plasticulture & Bare-ground Acreage)
Plasticulture Planted Acres (with Plants) $2,500
per acre
Plasticulture Acres With
No Planted Acres (no Plants) $2,000 per acre
Plasticulture Double-Cropped Plastic Acres $1,000
per acre
Conventional Row-Cropped Vegetable Acres
Suffering Substantial Losses $250 per acre
Nursery Crop Losses for Hurricanes Charley and Frances
Nursery payments will be based on a percentage of inventory
loss (exact percentage is yet to be determined) plus a flat
rate payment of $250 per acre to address general cleanup costs
from the hurricanes.
Payments for this assistance are authorized under
Section 32 of the Agricultural Act of August 24, 1935, which
allows the Secretary to restore producers’ purchasing
power. Aid to producers under this program is estimated at more
than $500 million. The use of these funds will not impair the
Department’s ability to meet its responsibilities under
the child nutrition programs and other food assistance programs.
These important nutrition programs are fully financed and all
of the entitlements will be provided. Also, funding will continue
to be available to purchase surplus agricultural commodities
that will be donated to food assistance programs.
Each producer payment is limited to $80,000.
Payment rates will be 5 percent less for producers who did not
obtain Federal Crop Insurance, which is available from the Risk
Management Agency, or on coverage under the Noninsured Crop
Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), which is available from the
FSA. Similar to a number of other USDA programs, payments will
not be available for producers whose adjusted gross income is
$2.5 million or higher, unless 75 percent is derived from farming
and forestry. In addition, producers will be required to agree
to purchase crop insurance for next year’s crop. Other
conditions will apply. A Federal Register notice will be published
providing more program details.
The closing date for sign-up will be announced
at a later date, but producers will be given ample opportunity
to complete the process. Producers in any of the eligible counties
are encouraged to visit their local FSA county office to begin
the sign-up process.
The FSA has developed a Web page that provides
producers with one convenient location for details on the new
disaster assistance, as well as other existing assistance. The
Web page can be accessed at http://disaster.usda.gov.
For more information about other disaster assistance,
producers should contact or visit local county FSA offices or
USDA Service Centers.
Florida Farm Bureau Federation