Department of Agriculture and Forestry, State of Louisiana - Mike Strain DVM, Commissioner

NEWS

Farm Recovery Grant Program Meetings Scheduled

Outreach meetings will be held across the state

July 7, 2017

Baton Rouge, La. (July 7, 2017) – Four outreach meetings are currently scheduled for South Louisiana agricultural producers to discuss guidelines and the application process for recovery grant money. 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 informational meetings scheduled at this time are:

July 13th 

9 a.m. –  Welsh Community Center
101 Palmer Street
Welsh LA 70591

1 p.m. – LDAF Crowley Office
110 S. Western Avenue
Crowley, LA 70526

4 p.m. – Opelousas Civic Center
1638 Creswell Lane Extension, Suite 2
Opelousas, LA 70570

July 14th 

10 a.m. – LDAF Hammond Office
47076 N. Morrison Blvd
Hammond, LA 70401

Meetings in North Louisiana are in the process of being scheduled.

The $10 million grant is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (as Community Development Block Disaster Recovery Program {CDBG}grant funds). The Office of Community Development, Disaster Recovery Unit, receives the CDBG disaster recovery grant funds from HUD. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture of Forestry will then administer the program. The funding is part of the $1.6 billion congressional appropriation for Restore Louisiana.

“We want to make sure our farmers have the information they need to get as much assistance as they are eligible to receive. This is not a loan,” said Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M. “Our farmers have to weather storms, droughts, disease, you name it. Hopefully, this will help them sustain their businesses.”

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.

To review the guidelines, go to www.ldaf.la.gov. Applications will be available online July 26, 2017.

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