USDA Ready to Help New York Farmers Recover from Recent Damaging Weather

Contact: Lynnette Wright
315-477-6309
Lynnette.wright@usda.gov

SYRACUSE, New York, May, 23, 2023 —  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through the Farm Service Agency (FSA), has disaster assistance programs available to help agricultural producers recover after damaging weather, including freeze events. Recent extreme weather conditions have impacted farmers in New York. 

“FSA offers a variety of disaster assistance programs to support farmers through times of adversity,” said Jim Barber, State Executive Director for FSA in New York. “Disaster programs have a short window to report losses, so once loss is apparent, it is important for producers to contact the local FSA office to report all damages and losses and learn more about how we can assist.” 

FSA offers many programs to help producers recover from losses, including the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP), Emergency Forest Restoration Program and the Tree Assistance Program. Producers located in counties receiving a primary or contiguous disaster designation are eligible for low-interest emergency loans to help them recover from production and physical losses. 

Compensation also is available to producers who obtained coverage through FSA’s  Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, which protects non-insurable crops against damaging weather that result in lower yields, crop losses or prevented planting. Eligible producers must have obtained NAP coverage for 2023 crops and file a notice of loss and application for payment on qualifying crops. 

Please contact your local FSA office for more information about our disaster assistance programs or visit farmers.gov/recover.