Livestock Losses due to Blizzard- Help is Available

By Bethany Johnston

Wintery weather and blizzard conditions swept much of Nebraska recently. Help may be available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) for producers who lost livestock due to the inclement weather conditions.

Stated State Executive Director of Nebraska FSA, Nancy Johner, “The recent blizzard may have caused losses for farmers and ranchers in (Nebraska). Natural disasters, such as blizzards, are unavoidable, but USDA has strong safety-net programs to help producers get back on their feet.”

The first step for producers who lost livestock in the blizzard is to contact the local FSA office. Producers generally have 30 days from the day the losses become apparent to notify FSA. The office will want to know the type and size of livestock that died, as well as the date(s) of the blizzard. The local FSA offices can be contacted via telephone, fax, or email. If you need contact information for your local office, go online to http://offices.usda.gov.

KEY FSA PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR LIVESTOCK

Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP)
https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/disaster-assistance-program/livestock-indemnity/index
The Livestock Indemnity Program provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather. LIP payments are equal to 75% of the average fair market value of the livestock.

Producers will be required to provide verifiable documentation of death losses resulting from an eligible weather event, and must submit a notice of loss to their local FSA office within 30 days of when the livestock loss is apparent.

If an animal dies as a result of the weather event after the 30 days, but the loss is due to the weather event, producers have a 60-day window after the weather event to submit documentation. Livestock must die as a direct result of the adverse weather event. An example would be calves exposed to the blizzard and died as a direct result of the blizzard would be eligible for LIP benefits.