Citrus growers can receive increased dollars from the USDA’s Tree Assistance Program (TAP).
Florida citrus growers are in a bad way, especially after adding the insult of damage done by Hurricane Irma to the injury already inflicted by citrus greening. While federal aid for damage from the storm is on it’s way, Michael W. Sparks, executive vice president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual, shared an update on additional funding from the USDA’s Tree Assistance Program, or TAP, in a Citrus Industry article. See the details below.
Additional Dollars Available to Citrus Growers
According to Sparks in the article, “I wanted to bring to your attention some increased dollars available to citrus growers as part of the USDA’s Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Congress boosted funding to TAP as part of the Irma relief package passed in February. The main tweak to TAP is that payment caps have been removed and growers are eligible to be partly reimbursed for losses on up to 1,000 acres per program year, double the previous acreage limit of 500 acres. FCM had been requesting these changes for quite some time, so this is great news.”
The exact wording can be found in the USDA’s press release from April 9th, under the “Other USDA Disaster Assistance Programs” subheading.
Sparks advised Florida citrus growers to contact their county Farm Service Agency office for more information and offered the link to locate the closest county office near you.
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