USDA Begins Payments to Ranchers for Losses Due to Wildfire and Drought

Emergency relief payments are beginning to go out for ranchers to recover from losses due to wildfires and the state’s severe drought. Ranchers with approved applications from 2021 in the livestock forage disaster program will be supplemented for increases in supplemental feed costs last year provided by the farm service agency’s new emergency livestock relief program. 750 million has been allocated by the USDA and there have been over 100,000 applicants totaling a need of 670 million dollars in payments. Phase one of the two part plan will roll out immediately while the second phase is still under development by the FSA for assistance to row and specialty crop producers.