As a result of Hurricane Harvey, the deadline to apply for the farm recovery grant program has been extended to Wednesday, September 6, 2017.

“This is a precautionary measure to ensure people have time to fill out the application on the heels of yet another devastating storm,” said Mike Strain, Louisiana Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner.   

This recovery grant money will go toward eligible farmers and ranchers in 51 parishes who suffered losses as a result of disastrous flooding in March and August of 2016.

The $10 million grant is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (as Community Development Block Disaster Recovery Program grant funds). The Louisiana Department of Agriculture of Forestry will administer the program. The funding is part of the $1.6 billion congressional appropriation for Restore Louisiana.

Producers with pre-storm annual gross farm revenue of $25,000 in the years 2014, 2015 or 2016 are eligible to apply. Crop loss must amount to a minimum of $10,000 as calculated by the crop loss calculator. Eligible crops include: cotton, corn, crawfish, grain sorghum, rice, hay, soybeans, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, strawberries, wheat and cattle.

Eligible parishes include: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, DeSoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Point Coupee, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. James, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana and Winn.

Related:Aftermath of Hurricane Harvey racking up losses for agriculture

To review the guidelines, go to www.ldaf.la.gov. Applications are available online.