The 2014 Farm Bill And Disaster Assistance For Livestock Producers

Mar 28, 2014

By Bradley D. Lubben

After nearly three years of formal debate, one extension, and two unmet deadlines, Congress passed the 2014 Farm Bill, officially called the "Agricultural Act of 2014" with the President signing the bill on February 7, 2014. The bill makes budget cuts and program reforms in many areas and sets federal farm and food policy through 2018. An overview and title-by-title discussion provides insight on the new farm bill and the program changes ahead for producers, landowners, and others.
Overview

The commodity title in the 2014 Farm Bill includes the re-authorization and funding of a portfolio of agricultural disaster assistance programs that will be a strong help to livestock producers. While the programs are projected to provide several hundred million dollars of disaster assistance each year across the country according to Congressional Budget Office spending estimates, they will provide much more in 2014.

The disaster assistance programs are not just re-authorized and funded going forward, but have been renewed retroactively for losses dating back to 2012, when the previous authorization had first expired. To cover the pending losses from 2012 and 2013 as well as potential losses ahead in 2014, the programs are projected to spend nearly $900 million nationally in the coming year, providing substantial support to producers who have been absorbing disaster losses in the livestock sector since 2012.

The disaster assistance includes

the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) for abnormal death losses due to agricultural disasters,
the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) for drought and fire losses to grazing capacity,
the Emergency Assistance Program for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) for other livestock disaster losses, and
the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) for disaster losses for orchard and nursery tree growers.

Agricultural disaster assistance is available to eligible producers and is limited to a cumulative $125,000 per person per year across all programs.

The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers the disaster assistance programs and has rushed efforts to get this assistance out to producers promptly, with sign-up set to begin on or before April 15.
Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP)

The Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) covers death losses of livestock in excess of normal mortality due to adverse weather, attacks from wildlife reintroduced by the federal government or protected by federal law, or other qualifying disaster events.

Livestock owners will need to submit a notice of loss and apply for assistance at the local FSA office. The notice of loss will need to come with documented evidence, such as photographs, records, and other similar documents.

LIP will provide an indemnity equal to 75% of the average fair market value of the animals as of the day before death as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture.

With both blizzard and heat wave losses in the livestock herd over the past two years, the LIP should provide substantial assistance to Nebraska producers.

While awaiting final details of the sign-up to come, USDA-FSA has posted a "2014 Farm Bill FACT SHEET" (PDF 216KB). The UNL Extension NebGuide G1921, Livestock Indemnity Program Under the 2008 Farm Bill, authored by Lemmons and Lubben, provides further details on the previous LIP program that should be consistent with the new program, including the relevant records of both livestock inventory and weather conditions that producers should prepare. (NebGuide G1921 PDF version, 225KB)

Livestock Forage Program (LFP)

The Livestock Forage Program (LFP) provides assistance to livestock producers suffering grazing losses due to drought conditions or fire on federally-managed grazing lands. Eligibility for benefits is triggered when the county is identified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having severe drought conditions or worse for specific periods of time during the grazing season.

If producers qualify for losses, FSA calculates a payment equal to 60% of the estimated monthly feed costs (50% in the case of fire on federal grazing land) for eligible livestock (including consideration for livestock liquidated due to drought conditions). The LFP assistance is equal to the monthly feed cost payments multiplied by 1 to 5 months based on the following measures for drought severity according to the U.S. Drought Monitor and certified for each county by FSA.

Drought Severity in the County	LFP Assistance
D2 for 8 weeks	1 month
D3 at any time	3 months
D3 for 4 weeks or D4 at any time	4 months
D4 for 4 weeks	5 months

For fire on federal grazing lands, the assistance is limited to the number of days the producer is prohibited from grazing due to the fire or 180 days, whichever is less. Livestock producers that own or leases grazing land or pasture are eligible for assistance under the LFP. Producers will need documentation to apply for assistance that includes information on the inventory and physical location of the eligible livestock as well as the evidence of ownership or lease of grazing land or pasture covered by the program.

With essentially all of the state suffering qualifying drought losses in 2012, much of the state seeing losses continue through 2013, and even some areas still facing drought conditions in 2013, the LFP program is expected to provide large payments to Nebraska producers, maybe as much as $100 million or more in payments in 2014 for the 2012-2014 losses. While awaiting final details of the sign-up to come, USDA-FSA has posted a fact sheet has posted a fact sheet available as a webpage or a PDF.

Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP)

The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP) program provides relief to producers of livestock, honey bees and farm-raised fish due disaster losses from disease, adverse weather, or other conditions not adequately covered by other programs. The details of ELAP are much less certain and are a function of the Secretary of Agriculture determining and announcing available assistance as conditions warrant.

With the current outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) in the nation's swine herd, there are expectations that ELAP or even LIP could provide some assistance to affected swine producers.

Total ELAP funding is limited to $20 million per year in legislation, so if ELAP is used to address PEDV losses along with other numerous potential losses, assistance payments might be limited or prorated if necessary.

Current information from FSA on ELAP is limited to the rules for the previous version of the program as authorized in 2008 and is available on the Disaster Assistance Programs - ELAP page.

Source:unl.edu