With the extreme temperatures so far in July, it's a good time to remind producers about assistance they might be eligible for in case of livestock or poultry loss. Julia Wickard, state executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Indiana, says help is available through the Livestock Indemnity Program, or LIP.

"It affords producers the potential of receiving a ballpark estimate of 75% of market price for expected dollars back for either livestock or poultry deaths due to this extreme heat that we're facing," she says. "So we do have an indemnity program for livestock and poultry and we've been talking to some producers across the state these last couple of weeks, and we want to make sure all producers are aware of this program through their local FSA office."

Wickard says producers need to document the number and kind of livestock lost directly from the heat stress recently and then file that information on a timely basis.

"Within 30 days of acknowledging that loss on their operation they should report that to their local Farm Service Agency office. They file an application for payments and then ultimately if the decision is made through the county committee structure then they would be afforded a payment through the LIP program."

To read the entire article, link here.