It’s been a horrendous couple of days for some parts of the region.
The ground was already saturated before the remnants of Hurricane Ida pushed through, dumping up to 10 inches of rain in some areas, especially Pennsylvania.
If your fields have been flooded and you expect to lose some crops, the first thing to do is document the damage and contact your crop insurance agent, says Dan Smeal, administrative officer at the Pennsylvania office of the Farm Service Agency. Here are some additional tips he has for producers who might be dealing with flood damage:
Document damage with dated photographs, videos and third-party verification.
Report to a local USDA Service Center as soon as possible so the need for assistance can be evaluated. Producers can find their local county offices by visiting farmers.gov.
The county FSA office will provide guidance on the Emergency Conservation Program application process. If the disaster conditions warrant ECP implementation, a sign-up period will be announced to explain the application process and next steps.
When authorized and implemented, ECP can provide cost-share assistance — up to 75% cost-share — to eligible producers with debris removal, grading or shaping land, restoring fence, and restoring other conservation structures damaged by a disaster such as floodwaters.
Find out more about the Emergency Conservation Program online.
The Farm Progress flood resources page set up to help producers devastated by the 2019 Midwest floods also has some resources that might be helpful.
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