Posted by GoatWorld on December 02, 2002 at 18:11:10:
Livestock producers line up for federal drought payments
By Julie Pence
Times-News writer
Are you a livestock producer?
There's money to be had if:
* You live in Twin Falls, Blaine, Lincoln, Camas or Cassia counties.
* You grossed under $2.5 million last year.
* You raise cattle, dairy cows, sheep, goats or buffalo.
* You get to your local Farm Service Agency office by Dec. 13.
TWIN FALLS -- The word got around pretty fast among country folks that there's government money for the grabbing through the Twin Falls Farm Service Agency office.
In just the past three weeks, some 450 applicants have filed paperwork for federal drought disaster relief payments under a one-time livestock compensation program, said Jim McLaughlin, director of FSA's Jerome and Twin Falls offices.
Assistance is awarded in the form of dollars per head for livestock producers who grossed no more than $2.5 million in 2001. The payments are to compensate producers for drought and insect infestation during 2000 and 2001. They are capped at $40,000 per individual or corporation.
A qualifying dairyman can have a herd of up to about 900 animals, said Wilson Gray, a University of Idaho economist. If the dairyman's wife is a partner, she can own another 900 cows and get $40,000, McLaughlin acknowledged. There can be up to three partners.
But owners of feeder cattle only get about half of what dairy cow owners get because dairy cows take more feed.
Even people who have just a few animals qualify.
"Half of these people we have never met before," McLaughlin said. "These are the kind of people we hardly ever see."
But there are some things that disqualify people. If you don't raise feeder or dairy cattle, goats, sheep or buffalo, you can't get in on the money. And in Magic Valley, if you don't live in Twin Falls, Camas, Lincoln, Cassia and Blaine counties, you're out. Residents of 20 other Idaho counties are eligible.
Too bad for producers in Jerome, Minidoka and Gooding counties, it turns out.
In fact, it was from a disgruntled Jerome producer that Twin Falls County cattle producer Charlie Lenkner learned about the federal payments.
"My neighbor who plays golf at the Jerome Golf Course heard about it from a cattle feeder from over there who doesn't get any of the money," Lenkner said. "So I called 'em up (FSA), and they said it was true."
FSA personnel were friendly and professional when he applied for the payments, Lenkner said.
"I went down there and this little lady knew just what she was doing and worked me right through the program," Lenkner said. "They never made feel ashamed or anything."
Lenkner is a small-time producer, though he doesn't want to say how many head he has.
"Cow people don't like to talk about numbers. It's an impertinent question. But I am more hat than cattle," he said.
He admitted to losing a small amount pasture and hay production this past summer because "we didn't get as much water as we wanted. Sure, we suffered some ill effects, but it wasn't as if we were up against the wall or anything."
Sen. Laird Noh, R-Kimberly, is a sheep producer who is looking into the program. He said the nature of such federal programs is that some people might need the assistance while others are getting payments without really needing them.
"Different people undergo different degrees of economic fortune," Noh said.
As for his own circumstances, Noh explained that some of his grazing areas along the southern edge of Twin Falls County were struck by drought over the past couple of years, while other areas were quite green. In general, the 2001 season had a higher drought cost associated with it in the form of short grazing seasons and wildfires, he said.
In addition, he noted that U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman designated $752 million for national drought relief right before an election.
"These things are often a function of election-year politics," he said.
McLaughlin said the overall program was probably designed more for Midwestern drought relief. And cattle feed prices in Idaho at certain times are affected by what goes on in the Midwest, Gray said.
But that doesn't explain why some Magic Valley counties get the money while others don't, said local cattleman Jack McCall.
"I'm headquartered in Twin Falls County, so I qualify for the payments in Twin Falls County, but I summer my cows in Jerome County," he said. "If you're looking to find any logic with these federal programs, you're talking to the wrong guy."
He also pointed out that though hay prices aren't particularly high right now, they were last year after the 2001 Idaho drought. McCall said he's paying $65 a ton today, but a year ago he was paying $90 to $100 a ton.
"Eighteen dollars (per head for each feeder cow over 500 pounds) doesn't even come close to paying the additional cost for feed -- and it will go away, because this is a one-time deal. But what the hell -- it's better than a poke in the eye," McCall said.
Lenkner said, "It is certainly a nice little stipend. I just determined that if they're looking for some excuse to give money away, I might just as well have some of it as the big boys. It's so weird. They wring taxes out of people and then give it away in these knee-jerk programs."
Times-News writer Julie Pence can be reached at 735-3241 or by e-mail at jpence@magicvalley.com.