Residents who received flooding or tornado damage in the county in the last several may be eligible for assistance through the Farm Service Agency.

County Executive Director Josh Headley said that farms and ranches suffering severe damage could receive assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program if the damage:

• will be so costly to rehabilitate that federal assistance is or will be needed to return the land to productive agricultural use;

• is unusual and is not the type that would recur frequently in the same area;

• affect the productive capacity of the farmland;

• will impair or endanger the land;

Headley said that a producer qualifying for ECP assistance may receive cost-share levels not to exceed 75 percent of the eligible cost of restoration measures.

Producers are not eligible for more than $200,000 cost sharing per natural disaster occurrence.

These types of measures maybe eligible for the assistance:

• removing debris from farmland;

• grading, shaping or releveling severely damaged farmland;

• restoring permanent fences;

• restoring conservation structures and other similar installations.

To be eligible for the assistance, you may not start your projects until:

• an application for cost-share assistance has been filed;

• the local FSA County Committee or its representative has conducted an onsite inspection of the damaged area;

• the agency responsible for technical assistance, such as NRCS, has made a needs determination, which may include cubic yards of earthmoving, etc., required for rehabilitation.

The deadline to request assistance is April 29.

For more info, call 222-3519, ext. 2.