May 5 enrollment deadline for Dairy Program III

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that May 5, 2008 will be the final enrollment date for the Dairy Disaster Assistance Payment Program III (DDAP-III). This program provides $16 million in benefits to dairy producers for dairy production losses that occurred between Janu. 1, 2005 and Dec. 31, 2007, because of natural disasters.

‘To be eligible, a producer’s operation must be in a county designated a major disaster or emergency area by the president , or declared a natural disaster area by the secretary of agriculture between Jan. 1, 2005 and Dec. 31, 2007,’ said Steve Glenn, Vice Chairman of the Warren County FSA Committee. Producers in counties declared as disaster areas by the president may be eligible, even though the agricultural loss was not covered by the declaration, if there has been a FSA Administrator’s Physical loss Notice covering such losses.

‘Some of the eligibility requirements producers must be able to meet to receive benefits include (1) producing and marketing milk during the period of January 2, 2005 through December 30, 2007; (2) suffering dairy production losses that are attributed to a declared natural disaster during the eligible period; (3) not having received disaster payments for the same losses under any previous dairy disaster payment program; (4) providing proof of the average number of cows in the dairy herd and annual milk production commercially marketed by all persons in the dairy operation during the years of the base period (2003-2004) and applicable disaster years that corresponds with the applicable natural disaster declaration or other period to determine the total pounds of eligible losses that will be used for payment.

According to the Vice Chairman, FSA requires proof of a dairy operation’s marketing and production history in order to compute dairy production losses.

‘FSA will base loss calculations on comparing the expected base annual production and the actual production during the applicable disaster claim year. FSA will determine the dairy production losses using the established history of the dairy operation’s average number of cows in the dairy herd and actual commercial production marketed during the base period and applicable disaster claim period,’ said Glenn.

The average annual production per cow will be multiplied by the average number of cows in the dairy operation’s herd during the applicable disaster year to determine base annual production for the dairy operation for each applicable disaster claim period year. Spoiled or dumped milk, disposed of for reasons unrelated to the disaster occurrence, will be counted as production for the claim period. If the actual production exceeds the base annual production, FSA will infer that the dairy operation incurred no eligible production losses for the claim period as a result of the natural disaster.

‘FSA will calculate payments using whole pounds of milk. Only one payment for each pound of milk calculated as an eligible loss after the distribution of the dairy operation’s eligible production loss among the producers of the dairy operation’ said Glenn.

Under the DDAP-III, payment rates for eligible production losses depends on the state, the annual average Mailbox milk price for the Marketing Order, applicable to the state where the eligible disaster county is located, as reported by the Agriculture Marketing Service.

The 2007 Act provided $16 million in benefits for eligible dairy producers. If the total value of losses claimed nationwide exceeds the $16 million available in DDAP-III benefits, FSA will pay dairy operations with total eligible losses exceeding 20 percent of the total base year production at the maximum rate that funding allows. A loss of more than 20 percent in only one or two months during the applicable claim period does not qualify a producer for the maximum per pound payment. A dairy producer’s losses must reach the priority level over the whole claim period for each relevant calendar year.

‘If dairy producers suffer total eligible losses of less than or equal to 20 percent during the eligible claim period, then FSA will calculate benefits by dividing the eligible losses of less than 20 percent by the funds remaining after making payments for all eligible losses above the 20-percent threshold,’ said the vice-chairman.

For additional information, or to file an application, please contact the Warren County FSA Service Center located at 811 Faulkner Springs Road, McMinnville, TN 37110.