On the heels of federal pandemic assistance to farmers in the past few years, Montezuma County has offered an assistance program to agricultural producers that will help fill gaps and bring environmental emergency relief.

Producers must apply for the Pandemic Assistance Revenue Program by July 14, through Montezuma County’s Farm Service Agency. This program fills gaps for pandemic assistance and emergency relief, most notably for producers who experienced drought since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Emergency Relief Plan Phase 1 and Phase 2 covers assistance for revenue losses caused by natural disasters, such as the drought experienced in the 2020 and 2021 crop years. Through this program, producers with insurable crops – beans and wheat – should have already automatically received an application. Those with non-insurable crops need to apply for non-insurable crop insurance within two years after applying for assistance; otherwise they will have to pay back any coverage they received.

Non-insurable crops are crops that have been successfully grown in the county for three to four years. The majority include alfalfa, corn, safflower and barley in Montezuma County.

Director Kacey Reidel, FSA’s executive director, said the agency isn’t able to directly reach out to every producer because of the high number of members in the county, but there are people who qualify.

According to Reidel, eligibility is dependent on the program. The major undertaking they need to carry out is to fill out the customer data, which includes tax forms. Producers also need a deed or a lease and have a farm agency plan – meaning that producers must actively be engaged in farming, management and labor.

Another necessity to receive funds is proof that producers experienced a 15% loss in gross revenue during 2020 compared with profits earned in 2018 or 2019.

Producers also must prove that their adjusted gross income was less than $900,000 in 2020 or was an average of $900,000 between 2016 to 2018.

On top of the paperwork, producers must follow “Highly Erodible Land and Wetland Conservation” regulations, which means producers cannot farm on these lands. If they farm on wetlands or erodible terrain, they must have a plan in place approved by the FSA and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Reidel said that permanent coverage, such as grass, normally does not count under this compliance because the land is not tilled annually.

So far, not many producers have applied because of the complex paperwork. The agency can assist as much as it can but it cannot help with the needed tax information.

The deadline to apply for PARP and ERP is July 14.