Meeting Thursday on FSA's ECP for fire-impacted producers

From Farm Service Agency

The USDA Farm Service Agency is hosting a producer meeting Thursday at 1 p.m. at Bear Paw Elementary School located at 29815 Clear Creek Rd, Chinook, MT 59523.

The meeting will be co-hosted by the Hill and Blaine County FSA Offices and is free and open to the public.

FSA will present information on the Emergency Conservation Program authorized by the Agricultural Act of 2014, the 2014 Farm Bill. ECP Fire Signup is scheduled for Oct. 9 to Nov. 8 in both counties.

For land to be eligible for ECP, 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 area

• affect the productive capacity of the farmland

• 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:

• restoring permanent fences

• restoring conservation structures and other similar installations

Producers who have suffered a loss from a natural disaster may contact the local FSA Office and request assistance.

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

• an application for cost-share assistance has been filed

• onsite inspection of the damaged area and an environmental assessment conducted

• the agency responsible for technical assistance, such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service, has made a needs determination, which may include length of damaged fence, etc., required for rehabilitation

For more information about ECP, please contact the local FSA Offices and visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov.

For more information about the meeting, please contact Les Rispens at 406-265-6792 extension 2 and Tracy Harshman at 406-357-2320 extension 2.

People with disabilities who require accommodations to attend or participate in this meeting should contact Les Rispens at 406-265-6792 extension 2 or Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339 by today.