Farmers and ranchers affected by recent wildfires will receive some relief.
U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, announced Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated $6 million in aid to help farmers and ranchers affected by recent wildfires in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
“I am pleased USDA has acted swiftly to aid producers recovering from the largest wildfire in state history,” said Roberts. “For many Kansans, the impacts are devastating because the fires not only consumed livestock, grazing lands, and fencing – but in some cases, homes, machinery, and equipment, too.”
The $6 million in available funding, delivered through USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), will assist farmers and ranchers as they attempt to restore grazing lands, rehabilitate devastated landscapes, rebuild fencing, and protect damaged watersheds.
“We are still learning lessons from the response to the Anderson Creek fires from last year that can be applied to this response and recovery effort,” Roberts said.
EQIP, administered by USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), is a voluntary conservation program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to help plan and implement conservation practices that address priority local and state resource concerns.
States will begin accepting applications in the near future. Producers in the affected counties are encouraged to check with their local NRCS service centers for additional information. Step-by-step assistance can be found at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/getstarted.
Fellow Kansas Senator Jerry Moran also praised the aid.
“The availability of USDA conservation funds targeted toward restoring land impacted by the fires is appreciated,” said Moran in a press release from his office. “I have asked USDA to provide maximum flexibility in administering the federal assistance programs in response to the disaster, and will continue to make clear the urgent need for more immediate assistance to those impacted.”
