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Federal emergency funds are available for Missouri farmers and ranchers
| Senators Kit Bond and Jim Talent announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved $85,000 in federal emergency funds for Missouri farmers and ranchers. |
"Federal emergency dollars are critical to helping our farmers and ranchers get back to the business of feeding and clothing our population," said Bond.
"Today's announcement is another installment of the funds Senator Talent and I promised to secure to help Missourians get back on their feet following last year's tornadoes and the floods and drought our producers continue to face."
| "Senator Bond and I will continue to work together to secure additional federal resources to assist the victims of last spring's tornadoes and other natural disasters," said Talent, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "This emergency funding from the Administration will help Missouri ranchers and farmers rebuild and recover from the destructive storm damage. I strongly encourage those needing this assistance to contact their local USDA Farm Service Agency office." |
| The USDA will send Missouri a total of $85,000 in federal Emergency Conservation Program funds in the form of $50,000 for tornado assistance, $20,000 for flood assistance, and $15,000 for drought assistance. |
Since last May, when tornados swept the state, Senators Bond and Talent have fought to get Missouri emergency assistance funds.
In the weeks following the tornadoes both Bond and Talent worked to ensure that federal agencies quickly provided all available help to Missourians affected by the storms. The senators sought and won very quick Presidential approval for emergency disaster declarations for a number of affected Missouri citizens, towns, counties and cities, and traveled with the President to tour disaster sites in Missouri.
The ECP, administered by the Agriculture Department's Farm Service Agency, helps agriculture producers with the cost of rehabilitating eligible farmlands damaged by natural disaster.
These funds would pay for debris removal, fence restoration, grading and shaping of farmland, restoring structures and water conservation measures.
Missouri producers should check with local Farm Service Agency offices regarding ECP sign-up periods, which are set by the county FSA committees. The committees determine producer eligibility based on on-site inspections of damage.
More information on ECP and other disaster assistance programs is available at local FSA offices and online at: http://disaster.fsa.usda.
gov or by contacting Missouri's state office at (573) 876-0925.