Resources for Victims of the Freeze
Local Assistance
Resources for farmers and ranchers regarding the severe freeze that hit California in mid-January.
Emergency loans for physical and production losses.
Application deadline ends December 20, 2007
Emergency Farm Loan Eligibility Requirements.
USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides emergency loans to help producers recover from production and physical losses due to the freeze.
Report any losses
Reports can be filed with the County Agriculture Commissioner’s Office by calling (559) 456-7510. The County Agriculture Commissioner’s Office is collecting information on all agriculture losses.
Be sure to take pictures and keep any receipts associated with the repair of damage caused by the freeze and contact the USDA Farm Service Agency of Fresno for more information on ways to mitigate losses and apply for grants. The Farm Service Agency can be reached at (559) 276-7494. Funding should be available in September or October.
Insure your Crop for Future Years
USDA's Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occurs due to natural disasters. An eligible producer is a landowner, tenant or sharecropper who shares in the risk of producing an eligible crop. To be eligible for NAP assistance, crops must be noninsurable crops and agricultural commodities for which the catastrophic risk protection level of crop insurance is not available, and must be any of the following commercially produced crops:
- crops grown for food or fiber (except trees)
- crops planted and grown for livestock consumption, including, but not limited to, grain and forage crops, including native forage;
- crops grown under a controlled environment, such as mushrooms and floriculture;
- specialty crops, such as honey and maple sap
- value loss crops, such as aquaculture, Christmas trees, ginseng, ornamental nursery and turfgrass sod;
- sea oats and sea grass; and
- seed crops where the propagation stock is produced for sale as seed stock for other eligible NAP crop production
Important Dates
NAP 2007 Application Closing Dates
Where to find help online
California Office of Emergency Services freeze assistance page
USDA Farm Service Agency freeze assistance fact sheet (PDF)
Utility relief programs:
Pacific Gas & Electric
California Public Utilities Commission
Where to find information
Crop loss estimates by county (PDF, 27 KB)
USDA designates 18 California counties natural disaster areas (2/5/07)
Farm Bureau donates to freeze-relief telethon
A USDA ad hoc programs could be the answer these farmers are looking for relief. The 2005 - 2007 Crop Disaster Program (CDP) programs would provide federal grant money to farmers who surpass a 35 percent loss threshold. Similar programs have aided farmers in the past when Congress has made the funds available.