Agriculture USDA Service Center Update

USDA Update – Jaunuary 9, 2023

Eads USDA Service Center Staff

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

  • EMERGENCY GRAZING AVAILABLE ON CERTAIN CRP CONTRACTS 
  • 2022 LIVESTOCK FORAGE PROGRAM – Applications are being accepted.  Deadline to submit signed application, January 30, 2023. 
  • 2023 ARCPLC Election and Enrollment -  Deadline March 15, 2023
  • SERVICE CENTER CLOSED:  Monday, January 16, 2023, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr birthday.

Disclaimer:  Information in this UPDATE is pertinent to Kiowa County FSA only.  Producers reading this and that do not have FSA interest in Kiowa County are advised to contact their local FSA Office. 

THE USDA SERVICE CENTER HAS A DROP BOX AVAILABLE ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE BUILDING. 

US DROUGHT MONITOR

Improvements on drought intensity on much of Colorado for this week.  The snow received in many areas of the state has made vast improvements.  Some D3 intensity remains in Baca and Prowers and Phillips and Sedgwick counties.  D2 intensity exists for another week in much of far eastern Colorado.  It will be interesting to see what changes are made after the snow received this week is factored in.

ELAP Assistance 

The county office fields many questions related to the ELAP or Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program. There are many items related to livestock that are available; however, producers must be aware they must have suffered ABOVE NORMAL EXPENSES to be eligible for ELAP.  This program is a disaster related program, and the producer must identify what type of disaster event has caused the above normal expenses.

Producers must file a Notice of Loss with FSA timely, normally within 30 days when the loss is apparent on form FSA-851.  

FSA Offers Drought Assistance for Livestock Producers Through Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP)

If you’ve suffered above normal expenses for hauling feed or water to livestock or hauling livestock to forage/grazing acres due to the impacts of drought, you may be eligible for financial assistance through the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP). 

For eligible producers in qualifying counties, ELAP provides financial assistance for:

  • the transportation of water to livestock.
  • the above normal cost of mileage for transporting feed to livestock, 
  • the above normal cost of transporting livestock to forage/grazing acres.*

*Hauling livestock one-way, one haul per animal reimbursement and no payment for “empty miles.”

Eligible livestock include cattle, buffalo, goats, and sheep, among others, that are maintained for commercial use and located in a county where the qualifying drought conditions occur. A county must have had D2 severe drought intensity on the U.S. Drought Monitor for eight consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period, or D3 or D4 drought intensity at any time during the normal grazing period. Producers must have risk in both eligible livestock and eligible grazing land in an eligible county to qualify for ELAP assistance.

WATER TRANSPORTATION

For ELAP water transportation assistance, a producer must be transporting water to eligible livestock on eligible grazing land where the producer had adequate livestock watering systems or facilities in place before the drought occurred and where they do not normally require the transportation of water. Payments are for costs associated with personal labor, equipment, hired labor, equipment, and/or contracted water transportation fees. Cost of the water itself is not covered. The ELAP payment formula uses a national average price per gallon.

ABOVE NORMAL COSTS OF TRANSPORTING FEED 

ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who incur above normal expenses for transporting feed to livestock during drought. The payment formula excludes the first 25 miles and any mileage over 1,000 miles. The reimbursement rate is 60% of the costs above what would normally have been incurred during the same time period in a normal (non-drought) year.

ABOVE NORMAL COSTS OF TRANSPORTING LIVESTOCK TO FORAGE/GRAZING ACRES

ELAP provides financial assistance to livestock producers who are hauling livestock to a new location for feed resources due to insufficient feed and/or grazing in drought-impacted areas. Assistance for Livestock transportation is retroactive to 2021 and available for 2022 and subsequent years. Please contact your county FSA office for additional details.

For calendar year 2022 forward, producers must submit a notice of loss to your local FSA office within 30 calendar days of when the loss is apparent; producers should contact their county FSA office as soon as the loss of water resources or feed resources are known. For ELAP eligibility, documentation of expenses is critical. Producers should maintain records and receipts associated with the costs of transporting water to eligible livestock, the costs of transporting feed to eligible livestock, and the costs of transporting eligible livestock to forage/grazing acres. 

KIOWA COUNTY FARM SERVICE AGENCY COUNTY COMMITTEE

  • Sean Harkness – LAA 1 – East area – Committee Chairperson
  • Destiny Haase - LAA 2 – Central area – Committee Vice-Chairperson
  • Michael Zimmerman – LAA 3 – West area – Committee Regular Member

USDA SERVICE CENTER CONTACT INFORMATION

409 E Lowell Ave.

PO Box 188 – Eads, CO  81036

Telephone 719-438-5851 FSA (Ext 2), NRCS (Ext 3). FSA Fax number: fax2mail 844-332-7501

FSA - Farm Service Agency  

NRCS – Natural Resource Conservation Service

KIOWA COUNTY FARM LOAN CONTACT INFO – CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT

Telephone 719-336-3437 (ext2) 

SERVICE CENTER OFFICE HOURS:  

Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  

RECEIVE USDA INFORMATION

Visit website www.Farmers.gov  for up-to-date information for FSA/NRCS programs.

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