As of Aug. 26, more than 90 fires have raged across the country, burning over 1,800,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. California has faced the brunt of the fires, with a quarter of the country’s fires located in the state.
“What you’re seeing is not a surprising dispersal of fires. We are finding these big fires in areas where you have a lot of that dense timber, a lot of that dense forage,” said Kaitlynn Glover, executive director of the Public Lands Council and natural resources director of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, in a Beltway Beef podcast episode.
“Either for reasons that grazing has been removed or timber industries have been removed. You’ve seen over the years just a massive buildup up these fuels, and all it really takes is one lightning strike—that’s never truer in years when we have a Drought Monitor that looks like it does.”
Glover noted that although fire is a natural part of the ecosystem cycle, prevention of large, catastrophic fires that take out homes and outbuildings is necessary. She also stressed the importance of using grazing as a mitigation tool, and how complications with the COVID-19 pandemic has caused fire management strategies to be postponed or removed entirely, including the use of prescribed fire, due to potential respiratory impacts from smoke and ash.
“California saw a lot of prescribed fires postponed or removed altogether. It is going to take some time to reset that fire regime,” Glover said.
For the first time, Congress has appropriated specific monies for fire response this year. In the past, funds have usually been re-appropriated, taking money away from other programs.
Glover recommended producers facing impacts by the fires reach out to their local communities, such as local Farm Service Agency (FSA) or Rural Development offices.
For livestock producers affected by the fires, there are a number of USDA resources available for assistance.
Livestock Indemnity Program
USDA’s Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths caused by unnatural or adverse causes, including adverse weather. LIP can also aid producers who had to sell livestock at a reduced price because of an injury from an eligible loss condition.
To be eligible for LIP, an owner must have owned the animal on the day it died or was injured; and the animal must have died as a direct result of an eligible condition or was sold within 30 days of injury at a reduced price. Only commercial livestock are eligible; pets or animals used for recreational purposes are not included.
Payments are based on national payment rates that are 75 percent of market value, determined by USDA. Livestock owners must provide documentation of injured or killed animals; this could be in the form of sale receipts, rendering facility receipts, or processing plant receipts.
For beef livestock, adult bull payment rates are $1,156.86 per head; adult cow payment rates are $889.89 per head; and non-adult payments range from $162.89-951.60 per head, depending on weight. Sheep payments range from $129.17-157.08 per head, depending on age.
Livestock Forage Program
The Livestock Forage Program (LFP) provides aid for producers with covered livestock who have suffered grazing losses due to drought or fire on native and improved pasture land with permanent vegetative cover or certain crops planted specifically for grazing. LFP also covers producers who graze forage crop acreage on rangeland managed by a federal agency, if prohibited from grazing by the agency due to fire impacts.
Eligible producers must be physically located in a county affected by drought (qualified by the U.S. Drought Monitor) or be prohibited to graze livestock on federal agency land because of fire. Producers must certify they have suffered a grazing loss and file an acreage report for all grazing land classified as a loss.
USDA will calculate LFP payments equal to payment factors of one, three, four or five times the LFP monthly payment rate. The LFP monthly payment rate for drought is equal to 60 percent of the lesser of either the monthly feed cost for all covered livestock owned or leased, or calculated by using the normal carrying capacity of the eligible grazing land.
Producers must provide a completed application for payment and supporting documentation within 30 days after the end of the calendar year in which grazing loss occurred. Payment rates for beef cattle range from $15.94-31.89 per head, depending on age. All classes of sheep have a $7.97-per-head payment rate.
Emergency Livestock Assistance Program
The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) aids with losses not covered under LIP or LFP.
Eligible producers have suffered livestock feed and grazing losses that are not due to drought or wildfires on federally-managed lands or have losses resulting from the cost of transporting water to livestock due to an eligible drought. Producers who certify they are socially disadvantaged, limited resource, beginning, or a veteran farmer or rancher will receive 90 percent of the payment rate for the losses under ELAP.
Payment limitation does not apply to ELAP benefits, however a person or legal entity with an average gross income that exceeds $900,000 is not eligible to receive ELAP payments.
Emergency Conservation Program
The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) helps producers repair damage to farmland caused by natural disasters, and helps put water conservation methods in place during drought.
Lands that qualify for ECP funds must have damage from natural disaster or drought that if not dealt with would further damage the land; affect the land’s productive capacity; represent damage from a natural disaster unusual to the area; or be too costly to repair to agricultural production without federal assistance.
ECP funding is determined by Congress and up to 75 percent of the cost to implement emergency conservation practices can be provided, but the final amount is determined by the committee reviewing the application. Eligible limited resource producers may earn up to 90 percent cost share.
Producers should check with their local FSA office to find out when their specific ECP sign-up period is (visit fsa.usda.gov to find your local office).
Environmental Quality Incentive Program
The Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) is not a program intended to be used to respond to natural disasters, but can help repair rangeland infrastructure not covered under other assistance programs. The Natural Resources Conservation Service will meet with producers to develop a conservation program. Applications are accepted through the year and can be submitted at your local USDA Service Center (farmers.gov/servicelocator).
Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program
The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides assistance to producers of non-insurable crops to protect against natural disasters. Producers must be previously enrolled in the program to receive payments and must report a loss to their local FSA office within 15 calendar days of its occurrence.
Producers must also pay a service fee to be enrolled in the program. For all coverage levels, the NAP service fee is the lesser of $325 per crop or $825 per producer per administrative county, not to exceed a total of $1,950 for a producer with farming interests in multiple counties. — Anna Miller, WLJ editor
