Agricultural producers in Adair and Russell County who have suffered damage as a result of excessive rainfall and/or flooding may request cost share assistance to rehabilitate damaged farmlands. This Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency (FSA), and provides cost-share assistance if disaster damage is so severe recovery without federal assistance is unlikely. To qualify for assistance a producer must have incurred eligible damage to agriculture land in excess of $1000 or be able to document that damages incurred for an amount less than $1000 are an economic hardship.
A producer qualifying for ECP assistance may receive cost shares not to exceed 75 percent of eligible cost to rehabilitate damages incurred by natural disasters. Up to 90% cost share assistance may be provided to producers who qualify under the limited resource provisions if approved by the FSA County Committee (COC). Cost share assistance is limited to $200,000 per person per natural disaster. Approved practices and measures for this disaster may include:
EC1 – Debris removal from farmland
EC2 – Grading, shaping, or re-leveling of farmland
EC3 – Restoring permanent fences
EC4 – Restoring Conservation Structures
Producers, who have experienced damage as a result of excessive rainfall and or flooding, may contact the local FSA Service Center for more information concerning qualifying losses. Requests for assistance will be accepted at the Columbia FSA Service Center from May 13th to July 12th.
To be eligible for cost share, practices shall not be started until a request has first been filed at the FSA County Office and an onsite inspection of the problem area has been made by COC or its representative. COC will review the inspection findings when considering the request for approval of cost share.
Producers who have taken emergency action before this announcement may be eligible for assistance if a request is filed within 15 calendar days of May 13th and it is determined that the action taken is eligible and meets all criterions for federal cost share assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program.
All producers, regardless of race, sex, religion, color, age, national origin, marital status, politics, or handicap shall have an opportunity to request cost sharing.
Contact the Columbia FSA Service Center at (270) 384-6431 or 1-888-758-6634 for additional information.
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