May 2006

USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) is providing $250 million to producers who suffered livestock, feed, crop, aquaculture, fruit tree, bush, and vine losses due to the 2005 Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Ophelia, Rita, and Wilma. The 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 the purchasing power of affected farmers, ranchers and producers. FSA is offering the assistance through five separate programs.

LIP provides payments to eligible livestock owners and contract growers who suffered eligible livestock deaths. See the online LIP fact sheet at: www.fsa.usda.gov under News and Events/Program Fact Sheets

FIP provides payments to eligible livestock owners or cash lessees who suffered feed losses or increased feed costs as a result of an eligible hurricane. See the online FIP fact sheet at: www.fsa.usda.gov under News and Events/Program Fact Sheets

HIP provides payments to eligible agricultural producers who suffered crop losses and received a crop insurance indemnity or Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program payment. See the online HIP fact sheet at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov under News and Events/Program Fact Sheets

TIP provides payments to eligible owners of commercially grown fruit trees, nut trees, bushes, and vines which produce an annual crop and that were lost or damaged. See the online TIP fact sheet at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov under News and Events/Program Fact Sheets

AGP provides $25 million in grants to the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas, to be redistributed to affected aquaculture producers. See the online AGP fact sheet at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov under News and Events/Program Fact Sheets

To be eligible for the five programs, producer loss or damage must have occurred in one of 261 counties that received a primary presidential or secretarial disaster designation due to calendar year 2005 hurricanes. The counties are located in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas. Assistance is not available for contiguous counties.

The table below, "Presidential and Secretarial Disaster Designations for 2005 Hurricanes," lists the county designations for each applicable hurricane. The "disaster period" is the time period in which losses from hurricanes occurred. In the five assistance programs, producers are eligible for losses that occurred only in these counties during the specified disaster periods.

FSA has additional programs to help producers recover from adversity, including the Emergency Loan Program, Emergency Conservation Program, and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. More information on these programs is available at local FSA offices and on FSA's Web site at: http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov

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.