The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Nebraska announced payments now are available to eligible producers who lost stored commodities due to natural disaster in 2018 or 2019. The On-Farm Storage Loss Program (OFSLP) was authorized by the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019.
Administered by FAS, OFSLP provides payments to eligible producers in impacted counties who suffered uncompensated losses of harvested commodities including grains, oilseeds and hay stored in on-farm structures.
For producers to receive payment, losses must be directly related to an eligible disaster event such as floods, tornadoes, snowstorms and wildfires that occurred during 2018 and/or 2019.
“There are producers throughout the country who had their on-farm storage structures damaged or destroyed by natural disasters during 2018 and 2019,” FSA State Executive Director Nancy Johner said. “This disaster recovery program pays eligible producers who lost their on-farm stored commodities. We encourage producers who suffered a loss to contact their county FSA office for program information and application.” The Chadron office is available at 1006 West Sixth Street, or by calling 432-4616.
To be eligible for OFSLP, the farm storage structure must be located on the farm, not used for commercial storage and would have, under normal circumstances, maintained the quality of the commodity. Commodities stored in warehouses are not eligible for OFSLP. Program payments are made for the loss of the stored commodity and not for the loss of the structure itself.
Commodities eligible for OFSLP include: barley, canola, chickpeas (large and small), corn, cotton, crambe, dry peas, flaxseed, grain sorghum, hay (alfalfa and all-hay), lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, rapeseed, rice, safflower seed, sesame seed, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.