Agricultural News
Chairman Frank Lucas Led Fight for Permanent Livestock Disaster Help- Sign Up Deadline is Today
Fri, 30 Jan 2015 04:58:23 CST
The former Chairman of the House Ag Committee, Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas, was the rancher in the room that insisted that Livestock Disaster Assistance be a part of the final language in the 2014 Farm Bill, approved one year ago by Congress and signed into law by President Obama.
On today's Beef Buzz, Congressman Lucas relives the fight to provide livestock producers "a level playing field" with crop farmers when it came to disaster help and a safety net when Mother Nature knocks you down. Lucas not only had the program renewed on a retroactive basis back to October 1, 2011, but inserted language making the Livestock Disaster Programs part of permanent law.
Farm Director Ron Hays talked with Lucas about these efforts in an overview of the one year anniversary of the passage of the Agricultural Act of 2014- click here to listen to the full conversation and you can click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear our Beef Buzz that zeros in on the Livestock Disaster elements of the measure.
Today(January 30) is the final day for signing up for assistance for losses suffered from Oct. 1, 2011 through Dec. 31, 2014 as a livestock producer under the Livstock Disaster Assistance programs that were renewed and made permanent in the 2015 Farm Law.
Applications for the Livestock Indemnity Program and the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, restored by the 2014 Farm Bill resumed in April 2014, after having expired on Sept. 30, 2011. To date, more than 556,000 applications have been approved to assist farmers and ranchers in recovering from nearly three years of natural disasters.
Oklahoma has received more help than any other state in the US under this revived program, with over 90,000 applications approved and nine hundred million dollars paid out to Oklahoma ranchers. Most of the Oklahoma losses are tied to the Forage Disaster Program.
The Livestock Indemnity Program provides financial assistance to eligible producers for livestock deaths. Losses can be caused by adverse weather, extreme temperatures, disease, or wildfires, or due to attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law, including wolves and avian predators.
The Livestock Forage Disaster Program provides compensation to livestock producers that have suffered grazing losses due to drought or fire. Qualifying droughts are based on U.S Drought Monitor severity ratings, and qualifying fires are those occurring on rangeland managed by a federal agency and normally permitted for grazing.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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