U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Oklahoma Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director Scott Biggs reminds farmers and ranchers affected by the recent Northwest Oklahoma wildfires that disaster assistance programs are available to support their recovery efforts.
FSA can assist farmers and ranchers who lost livestock, grazing land, fences or eligible trees, bushes and vines as a result of a natural disaster. FSA administers a suite of safety-net programs to help producers recover from eligible losses, including the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program and the Tree Assistance Program. Detailed information on all of these disaster assistance programs can be found online at www.fsa.usda.gov/disaster.
In addition, the Emergency Conservation Program provides funding and technical assistance for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters. Producers located in counties that receive a primary or contiguous disaster designation are eligible for low-interest emergency loans to help them recover from production and physical losses. Compensation is also available to producers who purchased coverage through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, which protects non-insurable crops (including native grass for grazing) against natural disasters including excessive wind and qualifying drought that result in lower yields, crop losses or prevented planting.
“Recent wildfires have caused devastating losses for many farmers and ranchers in our state, especially those in the path of the devastating Northwest Oklahoma Fire,” said Biggs. “Natural disasters such as wildfires are unavoidable, but USDA has strong safety-net programs to help producers get back on their feet.”
For more information on FSA disaster assistance programs, please contact your local USDA service center. To find your local USDA service center, go to http://offices.usda.gov.
Source:  https://www.fsa.usda.gov/state-offices/Oklahoma/news-releases/2018/stnr_ok_20180416_rel_001