The U.S. Drought Monitor is the “measuring stick” for determining the number of months of forage losses for which livestock producers may be eligible to receive aid under the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP).

“North Dakota State University has an Excel program that quickly will provide an estimate of payments for a generalized scenario,” says Andy Swenson, NDSU Extension Service’s farm and family resource management specialist.

The LFP calculator is at http://bit.ly/LFPCalculator and is updated weekly based on the Drought Monitor.

The past two Drought Monitor maps of Aug. 22 and Aug. 29 have shown that the drought has been alleviated in North Dakota but has become more severe in Montana.

Conditions in areas of Montana have continued to deteriorate the past two weeks. Thirteen more counties have become eligible for LFP payments, bringing the total number of eligible counties to 30. Producers in 13 counties may be eligible for the maximum five months of forage losses.

No change occurred in the number of North Dakota counties that are eligible for disaster forage payments or in the number of months of forage losses for which the counties are eligible.

Thirty-one North Dakota counties are eligible for LFP and 16 counties are eligible for the maximum allowed five months of forage losses.

In the past two weeks, South Dakota added three counties, Butte, Jackson and Mellette, to the list that are eligible for LFP payments, bringing the total number to 31 counties. No South Dakota counties are eligible for the maximum payment, but livestock producers in 17 counties may be eligible for payments on four months of forage losses.

NDSU Agriculture Communication – Sept. 1, 2017