LIP eligibility basics in the 2014 Farm Bill reviewed by FSA director

Worland – “Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) payments will be based on a producer’s eligible losses due to adverse weather conditions or attacks by eligible animals or avian predators,” commented Sherri Harvey, director of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Washakie and Hot Springs Counties at WESTI Ag Days on Feb. 4.

Eligible events

“Adverse weather events include, but are not limited to, hurricanes, floods, blizzards, Anthrax – the only disease covered, earthquakes, wildfires, winter storms, tornadoes, lightning, tropical storms, typhoons, extreme heat and extreme cold,” she added.

Animal attacks covered by the program result from predators reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law, including wolves and avian predators.

“This program has nothing to do with grazing,” Harvey noted.

She also added that drought is not considered an eligible adverse weather event under LIP, unless it is associated with Anthrax as a condition that occurs because of drought and results in the death of eligible livestock.

To be eligible for payments, “livestock must be owned by an eligible livestock owner on the day that they died and they must have been maintained for commercial use,” she explained.

The livestock deaths also have to be a direct result of an eligible adverse weather effect or animal attack.

Livestock

“Eligible livestock include adult and non-adult cattle, beef cattle, dairy cattle, buffalo, beefalo, equine, elk, reindeer and deer that are used for commercial uses,” she noted.

Sheep, alpacas, emus, swine, goats, llamas and poultry are also eligible under LIP.

“Animals born at normal full-term or near full-term shall qualify,” she commented, but only if the loss of those animals is directly due to the eligible event and if they would have survived under normal conditions.

Eligibility

“An eligible livestock owner is an individual or entity that assumes the production of market risk associated with the agriculture production of the livestock,” she continued.

To be eligible, they also must have legal ownership of the livestock on the day that they die.

“With LIP, one of the hardest things to work with is the proof of death,” warned Harvey.

Producers must provide documentation to verify the eligible losses.

“Producers are going to have to be able to show their beginning and ending inventories,” she explained.

Documentation

Possible documentation might include rendering truck receipts, National Guard records, veterinary records, tax records, production records or FEMA records.

“Documentation must provide sufficient data that identifies the kind, type, weight range and the number of livestock,” she added.

Other documentation may be considered, depending on the circumstances to identify qualified payments under LIP.

“For 2015 and subsequent calendar year losses, producers must provide notice of loss to their administrative county within 30 days of when the loss of livestock is apparent to the participant or 30 days after the end of the calendar year in which the loss of livestock occurred,” Harvey described.

In some circumstances, animals can be missing or snowed in, making it difficult to determine what condition they are in.

“We know that if we can’t find them, we may assume that they are dead, but until it’s obvious and we can actually see them, that’s when our 30 days start,” she explained.

There are no late file provisions under LIP.

More information can be found regarding LIP at local FSA offices or at fsa.usda.gov. The Emergency Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) was discussed in last week’s Roundup and Livestock Forage Program (LFP) will be covered in a future edition.

Natasha Wheeler is editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup and can be contacted at natasha@wylr.net.