Drought assistance offered to farmers and ranchers

DAVIS
April 8, 2009 9:12am

Farmers and ranchers in Central Valley counties and elsewhere in California with extreme or severe drought conditions may get help from the federal government.

The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service in California says applications will be taken until May 8 for $2 million available for practices designed to protect soil and air quality in areas of fallowed fields, keep orchard trees alive, and protect natural resources on ranch and pasture land.

Due to the extraordinary conditions NRCS will pay a higher-than-normal 75 percent cost share rate.

"Record low levels of water storage combined with low snow melt has dried up water deliveries to a point where folks are struggling just to keep trees going so they can live to bear a crop next year," says Ed Burton, state conservationist for NRCS in California.

Irrigation water deliveries from both state and federal water projects are ranging from zero to 15 percent of normal, the Natural Resources Conservation Service says, adding that a half million acres of cropland has already been idled and projections suggest that figure could rise to 840,000 acres, with a projected $2.8 billion direct loss to agriculture.

"Our best advice for preventing wind erosion is to leave some vegetative stubble or cover on the field," says Mr. Burton. "If the land is already harvested and tilled there are fewer options. Even in those cases, however, our conservationists are willing to take a look at the fields and see if surface roughening, straw mulch or silt fencing may help."

The $2 million is being made available in the following Central Valley counties: Butte, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Yolo, and Yuba.

Farmers and ranchers in Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Benito, San Luis, Santa Clara, Shasta, Sierra, Sonoma, San Luis, Santa Clara, Shasta, Sierra, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, and Tuolumne counties may also apply.

Practices being offered through the program include establishing vegetative cover, soil surface roughening, incorporation of soil-stabilizing organic matter, silt fencing adjacent to highways, irrigation water management, pruning to keep trees alive, livestock watering facilities, maintaining standing stubble and more.