Growers impacted by Thomas Fire should attend workshops

The USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service will have workshops to aid agricultural producers; including cattle, tree, nursery, vegetable, and berry farmers in filing for federal assistance programs.  Appointments can be arranged now for filing applications during these workshops.

The California Avocado Commission and University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) are coordinating with the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) the availability of field appointments for growers who have been impacted by the Thomas Fire. Personnel from both FSA and NRCS will be available to assist growers with the necessary paperwork to apply for federal assistance.

The three days of appointments are available (information below). To schedule an appointment for one of the following three days, please call (805) 645-1434.

Tuesday, Dec. 19 Santa Paula Agriculture Museum 926 Railroad Ave, Santa Paula 8 a.m. – 4 p.m

Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 20th and 21 University of California Cooperative Extension 669 County Square Drive Suite #100, Ventura 8:00 am – 4:00 p.m.

Federal relief personnel will be available to assist growers with the paperwork, and growers are asked to provide the following information:

• Business entity information (e.g. individual, limited liability corporation, etc.)
• Social Security Number and/or Employer Identification Number
• Location/size of the farm
• Extent of damage

In addition, it’s important that California avocado industry members who have been impacted by the recent wildfires and/or Santa Ana winds contact their crop insurance agent within 72 hours of the event to determine possible applicable coverage. Both fire and wind events may be included in certain crop insurance coverage, but agents must be notified within 72 hours.

Below, again, is a list of potential FSA programs that may provide disaster assistance to those avocado growers affected by the wildfires:

• The Tree Assistance Program provides financial assistance to qualifying orchardists to help them replant or rehabilitate trees damaged by natural disasters (separate from crop insurance).
• The Emergency Conservation Program offers funding and technical assistance to growers to help them rehabilitate land damaged by natural disasters. This program may provide cost share assistance for debris removal, land leveling and shaping, irrigation replacement, and cattle fencing.
• Emergency loans are available to producers located in counties that receive a primary or contiguous disaster designation.

Remember, if you are an impacted grower/cattle producer you are asked to contact both FSA and your county agricultural commissioner’s office as follows: USDA-Farm Service Agency

Santa Barbara/Ventura County  Daisy Banda Key Program Technician Daisy.Banda@ca.usda.gov 805-928-9269 Ex.2

Riverside/San Diego Counties Desiree Garza County Executive Director desiree.garza@ca.usda.gov 760-347-3675 ext. 107

Ventura County Korinne Bell, Chief Deputy Agricultural Commissioner, Korinne.Bell@ventura.org Henry Gonzalez, Agricultural Commissioner, Henry.Gonzales@ventura.org (805) 388-4343, Ext. 2

Santa Barbara County Debbie Trupe, Deputy Agricultural Commissioner, dtrupe@agcommissioner.com Stephanie Stark, Deputy Agricultural Commissioner, sstark@agcommissioner.com (805) 681-5600

San Diego County Vince Acosta, Information Technology Principal, vince.acosta@sdcounty.ca.gov (858) 967-8623

Riverside County Ron Bray, Assistant Agricultural Commission, RBray@RIVCO.ORG (951) 955-3000

A complete list of FSA disaster assistance programs can be found online. For more information about available disaster assistance programs, contact your local U.S. Department of Agriculture office. You can find your local USDA service center by clicking on this link.