Don't Leave Dollars on the Table: Weather Recovery Programs for Nebraska producers, farmers, ranchers, and landowners.

As a lifelong Nebraska resident, I have learned that Nebraska is a place of extremes. We have twenty below temperatures in the winter and one hundred degree temperatures in the summer; we love the Big 10 and we hate the Big 12; we have rolling sandhills and we have flat plains; we worship Bo Pelini and we despise Bill Callahan.

The year of 2010 has only confirmed the extreme nature of our state. This past year brought devastating blizzards and killer floods. As a result of these harsh weather conditions the USDA Farm Service Agency is offering a number of emergency programs that should be considered by farmers, ranchers and landowners. These programs include, but are not limited to, the following:

Emergency Livestock Assistance Program. This program is applicable to flood victims that have met risk management crop insurance requirements or obtained NAP coverage. The program will cover losses of purchased or mechanically harvested feedstuffs or forage intended for eligible livestock that was destroyed in the flood. The program will also cover grazing losses for up to 90 days.

Livestock Indemnity Program. This program is applicable to eligible livestock owners that lost livestock due to flooding. This program pays producers 75% of the value for the livestock losses that exceed normal mortality.

Emergency Conservation Program. This program provides assistance to producers to rehabilitate farmland and conservation facilities damaged by flooding, tornadoes, and other acts of god, whether the damage is of such magnitude that it would be too costly for the producer to rehabilitate without federal assistance. Eligible practices include debris removal, grading, shaping, releveling, restoring permanent fends, restoring conservation structures, and field windbreaks.

Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. This program is eligible to farmers whose crops are damaged through hail, excessive moisture, excessive wind, flood or any combination of these losses. The program was designed to reduce financial losses that occur when natural disasters cause a catastrophic loss of production or prevented planting of an eligible crop by providing coverage equivalent to Catastrophic Crop Insurance.

If you have additional questions about any of these programs, I encourage you to contact your local FSA Office. Please be aware that there are numerous filing restrictions imposed. If the government is offering these benefits, a person should not leave dollars on the table especially during difficult economic times such as these.