NEWS
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of Communications News Room 460-A
Washington, DC 20250-1300
Internet: News@usda.gov Phone: 202-720-9035
World Wide Web Home Page: http://www.usda.gov
Release No. 0328.04
Alisa Harrison (202) 720-4623
Jillene Johnson (202) 720-9733
USDA PROVIDES NORTH CAROLINA WITH $2.7 MILLION IN
EMERGENCY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FUNDING
WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2004 -- Agriculture Secretary
Ann M. Veneman today announced that USDA has provided
$2,737,600 in Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) funding
to North Carolina. The program provides cost-share
assistance to help producers remove debris from farmland,
restore fences and conservation structures, and grade and
shape farmland damaged by a natural disaster.
"This funding will help farmers and ranchers
rehabilitate farmland damaged by last year’s destructive
Hurricane Isabel," Veneman said. "We are able to provide
these funds as a result of returned unused allocations from
other states."
USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator James R.
Little and FSA North Carolina State Executive Director
Keith Weatherly highlighted the funding announcement at a
press conference today in Raleigh, N.C.
"Hurricane Isabel struck last September and caused
significant damage to some of northeastern North Carolina’s
largest agricultural production areas," Little said. "The
ECP assistance will provide much-needed relief to producers
in these regions."
Agriculture and agribusiness is North Carolina’s top
industry, accounting for $62.6 billion annually and
employing more than 20 percent of the workforce. Hurricane
Isabel caused the state an estimated $155 million in
agricultural damage in more than 35 counties. The bulk of
the damage was to livestock, crops, structures and
equipment.
In June 2004, USDA provided North Carolina with $1.88
million in ECP funds to help cover Hurricane Isabel
damages. With the funding provided in today’s
announcement, the state has so far received a total of
$4,617,600 in assistance for the hurricane.
ECP is administered by FSA state and county
committees. Locally-elected county committees are
authorized to implement ECP for all disasters except
drought, which is authorized at the national office of FSA.
Cost-share assistance for the hurricane will be up to 64
percent of the cost of the approved practice, as determined
by FSA county committees.
ECP sign-up periods relating to Hurricane Isabel have
ended and the funds announced today will be applied to the
eligible applications already received from producers.
Producers who have questions about ECP should check with
their local FSA offices.
FSA county committees will determine producer
eligibility based on on-site inspections of damage. For a
producer’s land to be eligible, the disaster must create
new conservation problems that, if untreated, would impair
or endanger the land and affect its productive capacity.
Conservation problems existing prior to the applicable
disaster are ineligible for ECP assistance.
USDA offers additional programs to help farmers and
ranchers recover from damages caused by natural disasters.
These programs include the Emergency Loan Program, Federal
Crop Insurance, Crop Disaster Program and the Noninsured
Crop Disaster Assistance Program.
More information on ECP and other disaster assistance
programs is available at local FSA offices and online at:
http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov
#
|
