Berry’s Picks

Tough Week

By the time you read this, I hope you have about gotten all your wells, plumbing and equipment up and running. Many of you probably still have blue PVC glue stuck on your hands. We can usually get by calving this time of year with little trouble, but this year was different. For folks that were calving, lambing or kidding this has really been a disastrous time. I have no idea yet what kind of losses folks may have incurred, but there is no doubt there will be losses.

I think all peach and pecan trees were still dormant and dormancy is very protective, so I think most peaches and pecans will be ok.

Some grapes will most likely be in trouble; fig trees and pomegranates will be at the very least frozen back to the ground. By the time this goes out,

By the time this goes out, we should also know the fate of our small grains. I hope that I am wrong, but I am concerned we will lose the majority of our oat crop and there is also the potential to lose a portion of other small grains. I recently talked with our

I recently talked with our Small Grain Specialist Dr. Fernando Gullian-Portal from A&M he is concerned we may lose more than just oats, with temperatures around 2 degrees two nights in a row it may be more than they could handle. If you had a good bit of snow, then that may have been enough to protect your grain. If you can go out and see

If you can go out and see some green in the whorls of whatever grain you have then it is probably going to be ok, if not then you have probably lost the crop. Dr. Fernando mentioned that he also sees the potential for major losses in a large portion of the U.S. small grain growing areas. This is due to dry conditions leading up to the very frigid temperatures and the lack of snow in those areas to help insulate the grain. Here are a few potential

Here are a few potential recovery programs offered by the USDA-Farm Service Agency that you might want to investigate.

Risk Management

For producers who have risk protection through Federal Crop Insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), we want to remind you to report crop damage to your crop insurance agent or the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.

If you have crop insurance, contact your agency within 72 hours of discovering damage and be sure to follow up in writing within 15 days.

If you have NAP coverage, file a Notice of Loss (also called Form CCC-576) within 15 days of loss becoming apparent, except for hand-harvested crops, which should be reported within 72 hours.

Disaster Assistance

USDA also offers disaster assistance programs, which is especially important to livestock, fruit and vegetable, specialty and perennial crop producers who have fewer risk management options.

First, the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) and Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybee and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) reimburses producers for a portion of the value of livestock, poultry and other animals that died as a result of a qualifying natural disaster event– like these winter storms – or for loss of grazing acres, feed and forage.

Next, the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides cost share assistance to rehabilitate and replant tree, vines or shrubs loss experienced by orchards and nurseries. This complements NAP or crop insurance coverage, which covers the crop but not the plants or trees in all cases.

For LIP and ELAP, you will need to file a Notice of Loss for livestock and grazing or feed losses within 30 days and honeybee losses within 15 days. For TAP, you will need to file a program application within 90 days.

Documentation

It is critical to keep accurate records to document all losses following this devastating cold weather event. Livestock producers are advised to document beginning livestock numbers by taking time and datestamped video or pictures prior to after the loss.

Other common documentation options include: purchase records, production records, vaccination records, bank or other loan documents, thirdparty certification.