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October 12, 2006 Livestock Producers Can Apply for Assistance Grant Program in Drought Areas Livestock producers whose farm or ranch headquarters are in counties that experienced a D3 (extreme) or D4 (exceptional) drought between March 7 and Aug. 31, 2006, are eligible to apply for payment under the livestock assistance grant program, according to Dwight Aakre, North Dakota State University Extension Service farm management specialist. Applications must be submitted electronically through the state of North Dakota Web site at www.nd.gov/ before Nov. 1, 2006. An overview of the program and answers to frequently asked questions also are available on the Web site. Producers who do not have Internet access should be able to find a computer and assistance in applying from a number of sources, including:
Because this is a grant to the state, applications will not be processed at USDA Farm Service Agency offices. The funds will be distributed by the state of North Dakota to beef, dairy, bison, horse, and sheep producers in the 27 counties affected by forage loss due to the drought. Only adult female livestock, such as cattle and buffalo that have calved, horses that have foaled and ewes that have lambed, will be eligible for funding. The eligible county is not necessarily the address of the applicant, but rather the county where the farm or ranch headquarters is located. The headquarters means the location where the livestock are maintained during winter. The eligible counties are: Adams, Benson, Billings, Bowman, Burleigh, Dickey, Dunn, Emmons, Golden Valley, Grand Forks, Grant, Hettinger, Kidder, Logan, McIntosh, Mercer, Morton, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Ramsey, Sioux, Slope, Stark, Towner, Traill and Walsh. An estimate of potential per-head payment for each eligible county is available on the Web site. Applications qualifying for less than $50 will not be eligible for payment. The maximum allowable payment per recipient is $10,000. To receive funding, eligible producers will need to complete a self-certification application that details the number of eligible livestock that were owned and normally would have been grazing as of June 1, 2006. The application has a section that requires producers to indicate livestock-related expenses incurred because of decreased forage supplies. These expenses could include loss of forage production, cost of supplemental feed, relocating cattle to new feed sources, increased feed transportation costs and emergency water supply needs. ### Source: Dwight
Aakre, (701) 231-7378, daakre@ndsuext.nodak.edu |
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North Dakota State University |
