Overview
The Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 extended the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP), originally created in 2002, into 2003. The 2003 LCP is an emergency initiative administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA) that provides immediate assistance to eligible owners and cash lessees of certain types of livestock for damages and losses due to any natural disaster. This program provides direct payments to eligible livestock producers.
Producers Eligible to Receive Assistance
Producers who did not receive assistance under the 2002 LCP and who live in counties that were requested as primary disaster areas under a Presidential or Secretarial disaster declaration between January 1, 2001, and February 20, 2003, and subsequently approved are eligible for LCP. This dramatically increases the number of counties deemed eligible in LCP of 2002. Producers of the following livestock are eligible for LCP: sheep, goats, cattle and buffalo.
The Farm Service Agency division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture carries detailed information about the Livestock Compensation Program on its Disaster Assistance Web Site at:
http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov/