Ag producers may be eligible for benefits under the 1998 Crop Loss Disaster Assistance Program multi-year provision.
Mike Zook, executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Hill County, has scheduled a meeting at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Hill County Courthouse Annex to discuss the program and several others.
"People who moved in and out of corporations, trusts, partnerships or into estates between 1994 and 1998 need to pay particular attention to this," Zook said.
The applications must be in Washington, D.C., by Sept. 14.
Recent legislation has changed the eligibility requirements under the program. Previously, it required that a producer had crop losses in at least three years between 1994 and 1998.
Producers who would have been eligible if they hadn't legally restructured their agricultural operation, or who operated under multiple entities in the years from 1994 to 1998, may now be eligible. The legislation allows that producers who received previous benefits under the program's single-year option and are now eligible for a multi-year benefit will receive the difference if the multi-year benefit is greater.
Eligible producers may now include those who filed an application before but didn't qualify, those who qualified but didn't apply and producers who received a payment for a single-year loss but didn't qualify for multi-year and now do qualify. Producers who are not sure if they qualify or not are encouraged to apply.
