Livestock producers awaiting the first phase of disaster aid should start receiving that money this week. The USDA’s Farm Service Agency created a new program called the Emergency Livestock Relief Program with $750 million Congress allocated for livestock disaster aid in 2021. For the first phase of livestock payments, USDA Under Secretary of Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie said the FSA will distribute about $600 million. FSA is using data from the Livestock Forage Disaster Program to administer payments. “We’re trying to minimize the paperwork and other challenges producers may have so they don’t have to come back to the office,” said Bonnie. “There will also be a phase two of payments and we’ll look to fill in the gaps from phase one in phase two.” First phase livestock payments will be equal to 90 percent of a livestock producer’s gross 2021 LFP payment for underserved farmers and 75 percent for all other producers. The USDA is still working on the disaster aid for crop producers, now known as Emergency Relief Program Assistance. That’s also coming in two phases. According to Bonnie, those funds will to be distributed as early as May.
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