Federal Assistance Coming to Farmers and Ranchers Suffering from Drought in NW Oklahoma

Press Release

Federal Assistance Coming to Farmers and Ranchers Suffering from Drought in NW Oklahoma

U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla) today welcomed Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer's announcement of an agricultural disaster designation for Cimarron, Texas, Beaver, Harper, Woodward, Ellis, Roger Mills, Dewey and Woods counties in Northwestern Oklahoma. Senator Inhofe, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Congressman Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer in support of an agriculture disaster designation on July 3, 2008.

"Relief for Oklahoma farmers and ranchers in the Panhandle and Northwestern Oklahoma is on the way," Inhofe said. "Thanks to Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer who signed the disaster declaration this morning, the federal government will be providing tax relief to producers struggling and making business decisions under severe drought conditions. I appreciate Sec. Shafer for his response and will continue to work with him and my congressional colleagues to ensure we are doing everything we can to provide assistance to these farmers and ranchers in these difficult times."

This designation will make farm operators in these counties eligible for low-interest loans through Farm Service Agency's Emergency Loan (EM) Program. A secretarial disaster designation also makes the counties eligible for payments under the Livestock Indemnity Program and Supplemental Crop Revenue Assistance Program, which will be funded through the Permanent Disaster Trust Fund Congress just recently authorized in the 2008 Farm Bill.

Additionally, this disaster designation makes livestock producers eligible for "involuntary conversion" under the tax code. If a rancher is compelled to sell livestock early due to drought conditions, the tax on the gain from the sale of those animals is allowed to be postponed for one year.

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