A bill to make supplemental agricultural disaster assistance available for fiscal years 2012 and 2013, and for other purposes.

Bill: 113-s-141
Sponsor: Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT]
Introduced: 2013-01-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
Aquaculture
Disaster relief and insurance
Fires
Forests, forestry, trees
Insects
Livestock

Summary:
action_date: 2013-01-24
text: 
Makes livestock indemnity payments (at 65% of an animal's market value) through FY2013 to eligible producers on farms that have incurred excess livestock death losses due to: (1) attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government or protected by federal law, including wolves; or (2) adverse weather, including hurricanes, floods, blizzards, disease, wildfires, extreme heat, and extreme cold. 
 
Establishes a livestock forage disaster program to provide one source for livestock forage disaster assistance for weather-related forage losses by combining: (1) the livestock forage assistance functions of the non insured crop disaster assistance program and the emergency assistance for livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish program; and (2) the livestock forage disaster program. 
 
Provides assistance through FY2013 for forage losses: (1) due to drought on land that is native or improved pasture land with permanent vegetative cover or is planted to a crop planted specifically for the purpose of providing grazing for covered livestock; (2) on federally-managed rangeland due to a fire; and (3) due to weather-related conditions other than drought or fire on land that is native or improved pasture land with permanent vegetative cover, or is planted to a crop planted specifically for the purpose of providing grazing for covered livestock.
 
Provides funds through FY2013 for: (1) emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish to aid in the reduction of losses due to disease, adverse weather, or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires; and (2) assistance to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers that planted trees for commercial purposes but lost the trees as a result of a natural disaster, and to eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers that have a production history for commercial purposes on planted or existing trees but lost the trees as a result of a natural disaster (requires tree mortality to exceed 15%). 
 
Amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to provide coverages based on individual yields (other than for value-loss crops) under the non insured crop disaster assistance program equivalent to: (1) catastrophic risk protection, or (2) specified additional coverage.
 
Makes additional program coverage available at 50% to 65% of established yield and 100% of average market price. Reduces the premium for additional coverage by 50% for limited resource, beginning, and socially disadvantaged farmers. 
 
Makes assistance available as soon as practicable to producers with 2012 losses of certain fruit crops in counties declared a disaster due to freeze or frost.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-01-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
action_date: 2013-01-24
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S288)
action_date: 2013-01-24
text: Introduced in Senate