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USDA: Disaster aid apps accepted beginning Apr. 15 through FSA

As President Barack Obama headed to California today to look over the drought situation and announce aid to ranchers and farmers there and in other areas that have experienced weather disasters this year, a spokeswoman for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack confirmed that local Farm Service Agency offices will begin accepting applications on April 15.

Vilsack noted Thursday that Obama had directed USDA to expedite the disaster programs by implementing them in 60 days rather the usual six to eight months it usually takes to write regulations.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., in a news release today urged ranchers to start collecting the documentation needed for the applications.



Heitkamp and Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., spearheaded a letter that senators wrote to Vilsack last week urging quick implementation of the disaster programs so that ranchers in the Dakotas who experienced a blizzard last fall could get benefits.

DTN today featured an analysis of the disaster programs. F



–the Hagstrom Report