Emergency Conservation Program Assistance announced

Recent flooding has caused severe damage in Washington and Benton counties.

Farms and ranches suffering severe damage may be eligible for assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) administered by the Washington/Benton County Farm Service Agency (FSA).

For land to be eligible, the natural disaster must create new conservation problems that, if untreated, would:

• Be so costly to rehabilitate that Federal assistance is or will be needed to return the land to productive agricultural use;

• Is unusual and is not the type that would recur frequently in the same areal

• Affect the productive capacity of the farmland; 0r

• Impair or endanger the land.

A producer qualifying for ECP assistance may receive cost-share levels not to exceed 75 percent of the eligible cost of restoration measures. No producer is eligible for more than $200,000 cost sharing per natural disaster occurrence. The following types of measures may be eligible:

• Removing debris from farmland;

• Restoring permanent fences; and

• Restoring conservation structures and other similar installations.

Producers who have suffered a loss from a natural disaster may contact the local FSA County

Office and request assistance from May 22 to July 15, 2017.

To be eligible for assistance, practices must not be started until all of the following are met:

• An application for costshare assistance has been filed

• The local FSA County Committee (COC) or its representative has conducted an onsite

• Inspection of the damaged area

• The Agency responsible for technical assistance, such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), has made a needs determination, which may include cubic yards of earthmoving, etc., required for rehabilitation.

Sign-up is not a guarantee that the requested practices will be fully funded.

For information about ECP, contact the Washington/Benton County FSA Office at 479-521-4520, extension 2.