U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s March 9 visit to a citrus grove in Polk County, Florida, underscored the USDA disaster assistance available to Florida producers affected by Hurricane Ian.
Vilsack’s visit highlighted the USDA’s efforts to help Florida producers rebuild, according to a March 10 news release. The department received nearly 2,500 requests for assistance due to the hurricane and has conducted more than 16 outreach events for hurricane disaster assistance programs to assist producers and organizations.
“We know how devastating storms can be to the operations of farmers and ranchers,” Vilsack said in the release. “USDA is committed to helping producers impacted by severe weather recover and will use all the tools we have to ensure that producers can rebuild and continue to do what they do best by feeding our nation and the world.”
The USDA assisted producers through the Risk Management Agency and Natural Resource Conservation Service, the release said. The Farm Service Agency authorized policy exceptions for three disaster assistance programs to help Florida agricultural operations affected by the hurricane: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; and Tree Assistance Program.
Producers received more than $190 million in federal crop insurance payments, with $134 million paid out within weeks due to the hurricane policy that automatically triggers payments if a county qualifies based on National Hurricane Center data, according to the news release.
Under the Tree Assistance Program, Florida citrus producers’ deadline to file a Notice of Loss with the Farm Service Agency is “extended from 60 calendar days up to an additional two-years on the timeframe to complete practices for citrus losses,” the release reported.
“Citrus producers have received almost $79 million in indemnities for damage from Hurricane Ian,” the release said. Florida producers received more than $190 million in federal crop insurance payments.
