USDA announces Oct. 30 deadline on WHIP+ applications

From U.S. Department of Agriculture

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced Friday, Oct. 30, as the deadline to submit applications for the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program — Plus, called WHIP+, for 2018 and 2019 losses. USDA did not originally specify a deadline when the program was announced.

“The physical and financial loss experienced by farmers and ranchers impacted by natural disaster events in 2018 and 2019 was widespread and catastrophic,” USDA’s Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce said. “Fortunately, in addition to our already extensive suite of disaster assistance programs for crop and livestock producers, we were able to provide additional support through WHIP+. If you have not yet submitted your application for assistance, please don’t miss your chance.”

WHIP+ compensates producers for losses due to hurricanes, floods, snowstorms, tornadoes, typhoons, volcanic activity, drought, excessive moisture and wildfires occurring in calendar years 2018 and 2019. Drought and excessive moisture were added as eligible losses for the program in March 2020. To date, FSA has received more than 133,000 applications for WHIP+ disaster assistance and paid out nearly $1.4 billion in WHIP+ benefits.

FSA will launch a new tool on the farmers.gov WHIP+ webpage at https://www.farmers.gov/recover/whip-plus to help producers understand eligibility for the program and whether they had possible losses in 2018 and 2019.

The tool will also allow producers an opportunity to provide information for FSA staff to reach out to them.

FSA will announce soon the details for producers who experienced quality loss from 2018 and 2019 natural disaster events authorized in appropriations legislation.  There will be a separate signup period for producers reporting quality loss.

For more information or application assistance, people can visit the farmers.gov WHIP+ webpage or contact their local USDA service center. To locate the local FSA office, people can visit http://farmers.gov/service-center-locator .

All USDA service centers are open for business, including some that are open to visitors to conduct business in person by appointment only. All service center visitors wishing to conduct business with the FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, or any other service center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. service centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors are required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. USDA program delivery staff will be in the office, and they will be working with producers in office, by phone, and using online tools. More information can be found at http://farmers.gov/coronavirus .