USDA Provides Drought Aid

Cattle ranchers in areas afflicted by continuing drought will be eligible for support as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2004 Nonfat Dry Milk Livestock Feed Assistance Initiative. USDA Secretary Ann Veneman July 16 announced that the agency will make available surplus stocks of non-fat dry milk to livestock producers in approximately 95 counties in nine states:  Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. These are areas that currently meet the initial eligibility criteria.

“Once again, the USDA is coming to the aid of our nation’s drought-stricken cattle ranchers in order to maintain their foundation herds,” says Jan Lyons, Kansas cattle producer and NCBA president.  “NCBA’s cattlemen in areas of these nine states will most certainly benefit from this program. As a cattle producer myself, I have seen firsthand the problems associated with drought. Our members worry about getting cattle fed when pasture and water tables are too dry. The dry milk program offers a high-quality source of supplemental feed inventory to continue through late summer and fall.”

 The non-fat dry milk stocks will be provided at nominal cost to cattlemen in areas meeting the appropriate eligibility criteria.  The U.S. Drought Monitor is used to determine which counties are eligible, to ensure the initiative is targeted to producers in greatest need.  To be eligible, counties must meet one of the following two criteria:

 (1)  Be a county, or have a part of the county located in a “D4-Exceptional” category based on the June 15, 2004 Drought Monitor; or

 (2)  Be a county, or have a part of the county located in a D4 Exceptional category at any time during the six months prior to June 15, 2004, and be in at least a D3-Extreme Category based on the June 15, 2004 Drought Monitor.

 “NCBA and the USDA, through their Drought Coordinating Council, have been working together to find creative solutions to the continuing drought,” says Lyons.  “This announcement is confirmation that our voices are being heard and that cattle producers’ needs remain a top priority.”

More information is available from local Farm Service Agencies or at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov.