Government Creates Separate Disaster Relief Program for Honeybees
Published Date: 1/17/2025
Rule
Summary
Starting January 17, 2025, farmers and ranchers who raise livestock, honeybees, or farm-raised fish will find it easier to get emergency help when disaster strikes. The government simplified deadlines and clarified rules, especially for getting help with transporting livestock feed. These changes speed up aid and make sure producers get the support they need faster during tough times.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
One March 1 Deadline for Disaster Claims
If you are a farmer or rancher eligible for ELAP, LFP, or LIP, you now have a single deadline to file a notice of loss, an application for payment, and required documents: March 1 after the end of the applicable program year. This change is effective beginning with the 2024 program year, and producers with 2024 losses may submit or change previously filed documents by March 1, 2025.
Feed Transport Payments Limited and Clarified
Under ELAP, only transportation costs (not the cost of feed) are eligible for assistance, and eligible transportation must have been incurred on or after January 1, 2021. Payments for transporting livestock feed are limited to the amount needed to meet eligible livestock feed needs during the program year and are not allowed if the feed was bought in excess of that need, bought to sell, bought for another producer, or for ineligible livestock; negligence or mismanagement is not an eligible loss.
How ELAP Feed-Transport Payments Are Capped
ELAP limits feed-transport payments by converting listed eligible animals to animal units, multiplying animal units by 24 pounds of corn (or corn equivalent) or 39 pounds of hay per day, and then multiplying by the number of calendar days from the start of the eligible drought or loss until the end of the program year; any loads above that calculated poundage are not eligible. Payments are also calculated using a national payment rate times the national average price per mile, applied to actual additional miles transported above 25 miles per truckload and capped at no more than 1,000 miles per truckload during the program year.
Stricter Records for Feed Transport Claims
To get ELAP feed-transportation help you must provide verifiable or reliable records such as commercial receipts, contemporaneous records, or invoices showing dates and total mileage. Handwritten receipts are not acceptable without truck logs or other verification, and cash payments must have a verifiable record showing the transaction was between two parties.
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