The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that signup for the Quality Loss Adjustment (QLA) Program began Jan. 6 and will end March 5. The QLA provides assistance to producers who suffered eligible crop quality losses due to natural disasters occurring in 2018 and 2019.
"The past few years have been marked with a variety of natural disasters from droughts to snowstorms, excessive moisture and flooding," Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. "The QLA program will bring relief to those impacted by these unforeseen events in counties that received a qualifying Presidential Emergency Disaster Declaration or Secretarial Disaster Designation."
Counties eligible for assistance due to D3 drought in 2018 were: Eddy, Foster, McHenry, Nelson, Renville, Ward and Wells. Counties eligible for assistance due to 2019 disasters were: Adams, Barnes, Benson, Billings, Bottineau, Bowman, Burke, Burleigh, Cass, Cavalier, Dickey, Divide, Dunn, Eddy, Emmons, Foster, Golden Valley, Grand Forks, Grant, Griggs, Hettinger, Kidder, LaMoure, Logan, McLean, McHenry, McIntosh, McKenzie, Mercer, Morton, Mountrail, Nelson, Oliver, Pembina, Pierce, Ramsey, Ransom, Renville, Richland, Rolette, Sargent, Sheridan, Sioux, Slope, Stark, Steele, Stutsman, Towner, Traill, Walsh, Ward, Wells and Williams. Producers in other counties may still apply for QLA, but must provide supporting documentation to establish that the crop was directly affected by a qualifying disaster event.
Crops that can be covered by federal crop insurance or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) are generally considered eligible for QLA with some exclusions. A crop must have suffered a quality loss due to a qualifying disaster event and had a five-percent-or-greater quality discount due to the qualifying disaster event.
Eligible crops may have been sold, fed on-farm to livestock, or may be in storage at the time of application. Crops that were destroyed before harvest are not eligible.
Producers may apply for QLA by contacting their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) county office now through March 5.
Categories: North Dakota, Crops, Government & Policy