U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman has announced that a total of $34 million in grants for the Catfish Feed Assistance Program (CFAP) will soon be made available to State Departments of Agriculture that have a commercial catfish feed processor physically located within its boundaries. The CFAP is authorized under the Agricultural Assistance Act of 2003 (Act). The applicable State Departments of Agriculture will distribute assistance to eligible catfish producers based on their calendar year 2002 catfish feed purchases from processors within that state.
“We are pleased to be able to offer this innovative relief to catfish producers who have experienced losses due to adverse weather and natural disasters,” said Veneman.
USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) will distribute grants to the states according to the number of tons submitted by applicable states. Upon receipt of the grants, the states will provide feed credits to eligible applicants who can redeem the feed credits with eligible feed processors.
The Act authorizes other disaster aid for producers suffering from natural disaster and related conditions. Key provisions reimburse producers for crop losses in either 2001 or 2002.
For further details, catfish producers should contact the State Department of Agriculture where their catfish feed processor is physically located.
USDA has developed a Web site that provides producers with one convenient location for details on new and existing disaster assistance. The Web site can be accessed at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov/.
