USDA to expand crop insurance, livestock, food stamp assistance in drought areas
June 15, 2015 |02:17 PM
The Agriculture Department’s Risk Management Agency announced Friday that the supplemental coverage option (SCO) and the actual production history (APH) yield exclusion are available for additional crops as part of a White House effort to support drought-stricken communities across the western United States.
SCO will now be available for alfalfa seed, canola, cultivated wild rice, dry peas, forage production, grass seed, mint, oats, onions, potatoes and rye in select counties for the 2016 crop year. It will also be expanded to additional counties for barely and winter wheat, RMA said in a news release.
SCO was first made available for the 2015 crop year for barley, corn, soybeans, cotton, cottonseed, rice, sorghum and wheat.
The Crop Insurance Decision Tool and the SCO/APH Yield Exclusion mapping tool, available on RMA’s website (see link) provide farmers with information on APH Yield Exclusion and SCO eligible crops, crop years, and counties where they may elect the programs, RMA added.
"This action will provide an estimated $30 million in additional relief to farmers in fiscal year 2016, and $42 million in fiscal year 2017,” the White House said in a fact sheet. (See link.)
The White House also said that, through its Livestock Forage Program, USDA projects it will provide at least $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2015 in assistance to farmers and ranchers who suffer grazing losses because of drought or fire.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has committed to working with faith-based and community groups to help establish at least 760 summer food service meal sites in drought-impacted Central Valley communities in 2015, the White House added. Last year, 725 sites helped provide meals to kids who can receive breakfast and lunch at school at little or no cost to their families when school is in session.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Bonnie also noted that through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program, USDA dedicated roughly $84 million to fund high-impact conservation projects focused on water quantity and other drought-related resource concerns.
The funded projects support a wide range of activities, from helping farmers improve their resilience to drought to protecting drinking water supplies, Bonnie said.
The White House also noted USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded more than $10 million to universities to support research of critical water problems in rural and agricultural watershed across the United States and cited many Interior Department programs to deal with the drought.
SCO will now be available for alfalfa seed, canola, cultivated wild rice, dry peas, forage production, grass seed, mint, oats, onions, potatoes and rye in select counties for the 2016 crop year. It will also be expanded to additional counties for barely and winter wheat, RMA said in a news release.
SCO was first made available for the 2015 crop year for barley, corn, soybeans, cotton, cottonseed, rice, sorghum and wheat.
The Crop Insurance Decision Tool and the SCO/APH Yield Exclusion mapping tool, available on RMA’s website (see link) provide farmers with information on APH Yield Exclusion and SCO eligible crops, crop years, and counties where they may elect the programs, RMA added.
"This action will provide an estimated $30 million in additional relief to farmers in fiscal year 2016, and $42 million in fiscal year 2017,” the White House said in a fact sheet. (See link.)
The White House also said that, through its Livestock Forage Program, USDA projects it will provide at least $1.2 billion in fiscal year 2015 in assistance to farmers and ranchers who suffer grazing losses because of drought or fire.
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has committed to working with faith-based and community groups to help establish at least 760 summer food service meal sites in drought-impacted Central Valley communities in 2015, the White House added. Last year, 725 sites helped provide meals to kids who can receive breakfast and lunch at school at little or no cost to their families when school is in session.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Bonnie also noted that through its Regional Conservation Partnership Program, USDA dedicated roughly $84 million to fund high-impact conservation projects focused on water quantity and other drought-related resource concerns.
The funded projects support a wide range of activities, from helping farmers improve their resilience to drought to protecting drinking water supplies, Bonnie said.
The White House also noted USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded more than $10 million to universities to support research of critical water problems in rural and agricultural watershed across the United States and cited many Interior Department programs to deal with the drought.
