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May 2006
USDA Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Aquaculture Grant Program (AGP) will provide $25 million in block grants to the state governments of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas. These states suffered aquaculture losses due to the 2005 hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Ophelia, Rita, and Wilma. State offices, designated by the Governors of those states, will distribute the AGP funds to eligible aquaculture producers. AGP funding is authorized by Section 32 of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of August 24, 1935. The Act allows the Secretary of Agriculture to use funds to re-establish farmers' purchasing power.
The aquaculture loss must have occurred in one of 261 counties that received a primary presidential or secretarial disaster designation due to calendar year 2005 hurricanes. AGP assistance is unavailable for contiguous counties..
A list of the eligible counties, located in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas, is available online in the " Counties Eligible for 2005 Crop and Livestock Hurricane Assistance Programs" Program Fact Sheet.
An eligible aquaculture producer is one who:
- Raises aquaculture species in a controlled environment as part of a farming operation;
- Has a risk in the production of such aquaculture species;
- Suffered an aquaculture loss directly resulting from an eligible hurricane in an eligible county during an applicable time period; and
- Has not received assistance under other disaster programs for the same aquaculture loss.
The total AGP grant amounts for each state are:
- Mississippi, $10,762,500;
- North Carolina, $312,500; and
FSA based each state's grant amount on the states' number of aquaculture farms and value of aquaculture sales in eligible counties, as reported in the 2002 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Census.
No "person" may receive more than $80,000 in AGP payments.
Producers' AGP assistance amounts cannot exceed their aquaculture loss amounts as a result of eligible hurricanes.
State governors or their designees will determine AGP application procedures and will distribute AGP funds to eligible aquaculture producers.
The AGP assistance is part of a $4.5 billion USDA package of aid to help agricultural producers and rural communities recover from the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricane season. For more information on AGP and other USDA disaster aid programs, visit your local FSA office and FSA's Web site at FSA's Disaster Web site.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C., 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD).
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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