Representatives from the Farm Service Agency addressed bee keepers in Alabama last week during the Marshall County Bee Keepers monthly association meeting to inform them of programs available through FSA.
Zachary Burns, county executive director and Angela Jones, program technician, used honey as an example crop to explain to nearly 35 people in attendance about the Marketing Assistance Loan (MAL), Loan Deficiency Payment (LDP), Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance and Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-Raised Fish programs.
With 587 producers and 13,464 colonies of bees in Alabama, bee keeping is recognized as an important agriculture endeavor.
Honey nonrecourse MALs provide eligible producers with interim financing on their production and facilitate the orderly distribution of loan-eligible honey throughout the year. Instead of selling the honey immediately after harvest, a nonrecourse loan allows a producer with eligible honey to store the production, using the honey itself as collateral. The honey loan provides funding for an eligible producer to pay bills without having to sell the honey at a time of year when prices tend to be lowest.
Producers who are eligible for nonrecourse marketing assistance loans may choose to receive loan deficiency payments (LDPs) in lieu of MALs, which provide price support during times of low market prices.
The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial assistance to producers of noninsurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters, while the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) offers emergency relief to producers of livestock, honey bees and farm-raised fish. ELAP covers losses from disaster such blizzards and wildfires, which are not adequately covered by any other disaster program.
—by Vickie Lane and Murray Dale Watts
