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CapitalPress.com
March 17, 2017
Idaho governor requests federal disaster declarations Farm
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
BOISE — Gov. Butch Ot-
ter has sent a letter to USDA
asking the federal agency to
issue a disaster declaration for
10 Idaho counties to help food
producers impacted by recent
flooding.
Otter’s letter requests
declarations for Ada, Bound-
ary, Canyon, Cassia, Custer,
Jerome, Minidoka, Payette,
Twin Falls and Washington
counties. Adjacent counties
would also become eligible
for emergency federal loans
and services made possible by
a disaster declaration signed
by the secretary of agricul-
ture.
At the height of the flood-
ing a few weeks ago, Ot-
ter and Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown flew over flooded
farms, ranches and dairies in
Southern Idaho and Eastern
Oregon. Otter asked USDA’s
Farm Service Agency to be
prepared to inform area food
producers about federal disas-
ter programs to help them re-
cover from the damage.
“Our tour confirmed the
need for the State of Idaho to
help our local communities
dig out and bail out from our
worst winter storms since the
mid-1980s,” Otter wrote.
Aaron Johnson, acting ex-
ecutive director of the Idaho
Courtesy of Ryan Cranney
Oakley, Idaho, grower Ryan Cranney’s field is covered by standing water. Gov. Butch Otter has asked
USDA to issue federal disaster declarations for 10 Idaho counties due to flooding.
Farm Service Agency, said no
estimates of the extent of the
damage have been made, and
producers’ requests for help
have yet to come in. Johnson
said producers understand
snowpack remains in the
mountains and more flooding
may be coming, with warmer
weather in the forecast.
“They are waiting to make
a determination of how bad
the total damage is going to
be,” Johnson said.
Before flood waters re-
ceded, Idaho Dairymen’s
Association Executive Direc-
tor Bob Naerebout said his
organization commissioned
a plane and videographer
to document the damage
in the Magic and Treasure
valleys.
“It’s important for all of
those who suffered losses
during the flooding to be able
to document them and turn
that into the county level so
they can document total loss-
es,” Naerebout said.
From the air, Naerebout
saw tarped silage piles cov-
ered by water, flooded barns
and soggy haystacks.
“We saw a lot of large
bales of straw and hay to di-
vert the water that was com-
ing,” he said.
Idaho hay analyst Seth
Hoyt said the flooding will
affect forage supplies, though
the extent of the impact is un-
known. Hoyt imagines condi-
tions will delay early cuttings
of alfalfa and wheat for silage
by about 30 days.
Oakley grower Ryan Cran-
ney heads a local flood district
that has been promised state
aid, and he hopes to also ob-
tain federal emergency aid to
help cover costs of clearing ice
and pumping flood water from
canals to protect surrounding
property.
Cranney may also pursue
FSA emergency assistance
for his farm and ranch, where
standing water has contrib-
uted to a doubling of his calf
mortality, fall crops were de-
stroyed and fields will have to
be reworked.
Several Idaho counties
have also received separate
state flooding disaster decla-
rations for infrastructure and
are pursuing federal declara-
tions to help cover road and
bridge damage, said Eliza-
beth Duncan, a spokeswom-
an for the Idaho Office of
Emergency Management.
Duncan said the state
Legislature has authorized
$52 million toward infra-
structure repairs, which
would provide state match-
ing funds to leverage federal
dollars, pending Otter’s ap-
proval. Duncan’s agency is
also tasked with forming an
expert review panel to allo-
cate the funds.
11-2/#4N
Service
Agency
gears up to
help flooded
Calif. farms
By TIM HEARDEN
Capital Press
DAVIS, Calif. — The
USDA is accepting applica-
tions from farmers and ranch-
ers in Northern and Central
California seeking assistance
after this winter’s flooding.
The Farm Service Agen-
cy is making available emer-
gency low-interest loans to
growers in counties included
in President Donald Trump’s
Feb. 14 declaration, which
stretches through much of the
state.
The loans are available to a
producer who suffered at least
a 30 percent loss of a primary
crop or loss of income as a re-
sult of the disaster, according
to the FSA website.
County FSA offices are
also beginning to help grow-
ers access other aid programs
that didn’t require the declara-
tion, such as a tree replacement
program for farms on which
standing water damaged a
young orchard or vineyard,
said Jacque Johnson, the FSA’s
acting state executive director.
Johnson said she expects
some applications for loans
and other aid, but much of the
damage was minor enough
that farmers could address it
themselves.
“There is a lot of damage,
but typically we don’t have
hundreds and hundreds of
people applying,” she said.
“There is damage, but not so
much damage that a farmer is
not able to address it without
assistance from the federal
government.”
The aid follows a series
of heavy winter storms that
flooded fields, blew trees over
and interfered with the almond
blossom. Flood waters soaked
artichokes and cauliflower in
the Salinas Valley, covered rice
and other fields in the middle
Sacramento Valley, forced an-
imals to higher ground along
the Tuolumne and San Joaquin
rivers and prompted workers
to shore up weak spots in near-
ly 1,600 miles of levees in the
Central Valley.
Among the programs avail-
able to growers:
• The Emergency Assis-
tance for Livestock, Honeybees
and Farm-Raised Fish Program
(ELAP) provides relief for
losses because of feed or wa-
ter shortages, disease, adverse
weather or other conditions. It
covers damaged or destroyed
livestock feed that was intend-
ed for use by the producer’s
eligible livestock, the Califor-
nia Cattlemen’s Association
advises.
The program also covers up
to 150 lost grazing days when
livestock must be removed be-
cause of flooding and beehive
losses from a natural disas-
ter such as flooding, the CCA
notes.
• The Non-Insured Crop
Disaster Assistance Program
(NAP) provides producers who
have purchased the coverage
with financial assistance for
low yields, loss of inventory or
prevented planting because of
the disaster.
• The Livestock Indemnity
Program pays eligible produc-
ers for livestock deaths that
were caused by the disaster.
• The Tree Assistance Pro-
gram (TAP) helps orchardists
and nursery tree growers who
lost trees, shrubs and vines be-
cause of the disaster.
• The Emergency Conser-
vation Program (ECP) funds
rehabilitation of land damaged
by natural disasters, including
replacing fences and removing
debris.
• HayNet is an FSA-sup-
ported advertising site allow-
ing farmers and ranchers to
post “need hay” and “have
hay” ads online, the CCA
notes. Farmers can also post
similar messages relating to
grazing land. The site is www.
fsa.usda.gov/haynet .
Each program has specific
deadlines and requirements.
Visit www.fsa.usda.gov or
call your local Farm Service
Agency office for details.