As Alabama began to dig up out from deadly tornadoes that ripped through the Southeast last workweek , the state ’s farming leaders run into with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about program to aid farmers whose lives and keep were impacted by the storms .
Vilsack joined Janet Napolitano , secretary of Homeland Security ; Craig Fugate , FEMA decision maker ; Shaun Donovan , secretary of Housing and Urban Development ; and Karen Mills , Small Business Administration administrator ; on a term of enlistment of crack - ravaged Pratt City near Birmingham , Ala. , on Sunday , May 1 , 2011 .
Paul Pinyan , executive director of the Alabama Farmers Federation , yield the USDA chief an overview of the agrarian damage in Alabama . In add-on to century of fowl houses that were destroyed or damage by tornado , farmers also have been impact by mile of downed fencing , thousands of acres of flattened timberland , and tons of debris that littered their fields . Farmers in northerly Alabama also have burned hundreds of Imperial gallon of fuel to keep generators running during the prolonged force outage .
Within hours of last week ’s storm , the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries activated the Emergency Operations Center , located in the basement of the section ’s headquarters in Montgomery , Ala. EOC staffer carry on to receive call about damage to farms , issue burying permits for poultry growers and gather information regarding USDA catastrophe programs .
Preliminary damage report indicate thatpoultrylosses were in the millions with more than 200 poultry planetary house destroy and an additional 514 discredited . As of Monday good afternoon , 38 cow and 19 horse had been report dead . Department officials wait these numbers to rise as they watch more about the extent of the destruction .
Vilsack noted that producer who ’ve have fowl andlivestocklosses may be eligible for assist through the Livestock Indemnity Program . In addition , the Emergency Conservation Program offer toll - part help for fence fixture and debris removal , and some going may be cover by craw indemnity or the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program . The presidential disaster resolution also makes Fannie Merritt Farmer eligible for exigency loans through the USDA , and Vilsack order he would act with state officials to secure a secretarial calamity annunciation , which will trigger off the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program ( SURE ) .
“ Right now , I desire to ensure I get the folks here connected — to ensure we get things done , ” Vilsack order .
He also reassured state agriculture leaders , “ If there ’s a stumble block , if there ’s a stop — something that ’s not getting done — you have my number .
Alabama farm leaders , let in John McMillan , Alabama ’s commissioner of agriculture and industries , visited with Vilsack for more than an hour as he and fellow locker members toured the northwestern Birmingham community .
“ This is going to be a metre when our religion , ingenuity and declaration are go to be tested , ” McMillan enunciate . “ I fly over North Alabama for four and a half hours ( Saturday ) , and we have n’t even started talking about the rural ravaging . It ’s operate to take a whole destiny of resolve and inscription to get through this . ”
Farmers can visit their local FSA business office to watch more about disaster programs . For assistance regarding scathe at animal operations resulting inanimal mortality , call the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries EOC at 334 - 240 - 7278 .
