USDA Offers Disaster Assistance to Oregon Producers
Farm operations in Oregon have been significantly impacted by recent wildfires. To help, the NRCS-Oregon technical and financial assistance available to help farmers and livestock producers recover from these wildfire events.
A total of $2 million of FY24 funds have newly been made available to support producers in wildfire recovery. Producers in the following counties may be eligible to apply: Baker, Crook, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, and Wheeler.
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can help producers plan and implement conservation practices on land impacted by natural disasters. Eligible land includes rangeland, and non-industrial private forestland. Practices can include:
Minimizing noxious and invasive plant proliferation
- Protecting water quality
- Grazing deferment for degraded plant recovery
- Range plantings to mitigate soil erosion
“The Natural Resources Conservation Service can be a very valuable partner to help landowners with their recovery by utilizing conservation measures to recover from wildfires and minimize the severity of future fire events,” said Greg Becker, NRCS State Conservationist in Oregon. “Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop approaches that focus on effective recovery and conservation of the land.”
NRCS will be utilizing ACT NOW to process conservation applications in this emergency wildfire recovery ranking pool to deliver a conservation product faster. ACT NOW allows NRCS to immediately approve and obligate a ranked application in the designated ranking pool when an eligible application meets or exceeds a State-determined minimum ranking score of 140 points. Applications will be accepted and funded until available funds are expended.
NRCS will accept applications through September 9, 2024. Applications for conservation programs in other funding pools – including EQIP and CSP – are accepted year-round, however producers and landowners should apply by state-specific, signup dates to be considered for each year’s funding. To apply, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center.
To learn more about NRCS programs, contact your local USDA Service Center. Producers can also apply for NRCS programs, manage conservation plans and contracts, and view and print conservation maps by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today.
Additional USDA disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including USDA resources specifically for producers impacted by heavy rain and flooding. Those resources include the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet and Loan Assistance Tool. Additionally, FarmRaise offers an FSA educational hub with LIP and ELAP decision tools as well as farm loan resource videos. For FSA and NRCS programs, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent.
NRCS officials note they are always available to provide technical assistance during the recovery process by assisting producers to plan and implement conservation practices on farms and working forests impacted by natural disasters. [END] The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can help producers plan and implement conservation practices on land impacted by recent wildfires.
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