Virginia cattle farmers affected by prolonged drought in 2023 and 2024 may be eligible to receive financial support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced that the USDA is providing $1 billion to livestock producers to cover grazing losses caused by drought or wildfire events. Funds will be distributed through the Emergency Livestock Relief Program.
The USDA Farm Service Agency will leverage existing Livestock Forage Disaster Program data to streamline payment calculations and expedite emergency relief and disbursements. Payments will automatically be issued to producers with an approved LFP application on file with FSA.
Due to anticipated high demand, payments will be factored at 35% and if additional funds remain, FSA may issue a second payment.
Virginia’s cattle producers were hit hard by drought last summer, as many struggled with stressed, parched pastures—particularly in the Shenandoah Valley.
“I’ve been farming all my life, and last year was the toughest year for drought that I can remember,” said Chuck French, a Shenandoah County cattleman and president of Shenandoah County Farm Bureau.
French’s pastures “depleted pretty quickly” during mid- to late-June, forcing him to graze fields he normally grows and stockpiles for winter. And although he had a decent spring hay harvest, his second cutting during July was dismal, causing him to “put cattle on feed earlier in the season.
“I was fortunate that I didn’t have any wells go dry, but I had some neighbors that had well issues,” he added.
French said disaster assistance like the LFP is vital to helping farmers offset financial hardship and economic impacts caused by abnormally dry conditions and other weather catastrophes.
“It’s an excellent program,” he said.
To qualify for payments, livestock producers must have suffered grazing losses in a county rated by the U.S. Drought Monitor as having a D2-level drought for eight consecutive weeks. Or, they must have had a D3 or higher level of drought intensity during the normal grazing periods in 2023 or 2024 or both calendar years.
To learn more about the ELRP, visit bit.ly/3ZoENo1.
This is the first of two planned rounds of assistance through ELRP. A second round offering assistance for flood-impacted producers is set to be announced later this summer.