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Producers who have suffered a loss from the ice storms in Lunenburg and Charlotte counties Feb. 13 and 18 should contact the Charlotte/Lunenburg County Farm Service Agency (FSA) Office to request assistance during the signup period from March 24 to April 23.

Farms suffering severe damage may be eligible for assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) administered by the Charlotte/Lunenburg County FSA.

For land to be eligible, the natural disaster must create new conservation problems that, if untreated, would:

• be so costly to rehabilitate that Federal assistance is or will be needed to return the land to productive agricultural use
• is unusual and is not the type that would recur frequently in the same area
• affect the productive capacity of the farmland
• impair or endanger the land

A producer qualifying for ECP assistance may receive cost-share levels not to exceed 75% of the eligible cost of restoration measures. No producer is eligible for more than $200,000 cost sharing per natural disaster occurrence. The following types of measures may be eligible:

• removing debris from farmland
• restoring or repairing permanent fences