The Park County Farm Service Agency is administering a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to help farmers and ranchers severely impacted by flood damage. 

The Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) provides funding and assistance to repair damaged farmland or install water conservation systems. 

Park County farmers and ranchers who were impacted by this summer’s flooding are eligible for assistance under this program if the damage affects productivity on the farmland, further endangers the land if not addressed, and will be so costly to rehabilitate that federal assistance is needed to return the land to productive agricultural use. The damage also must be unusual and not likely to occur frequently in the same area. 

The program requires a cost share, which is not to exceed 75% of the eligible costs of the restoration, and no producer is eligible for more than $500,000 cost sharing per natural disaster event. 

Eligible restoration projects include grading and shaping severely damaged farmland, removing debris, restoring permanent fences, and restoring conservation structures. 

Practices toward restoration of impacted farmland must not have started until the producer has filed an application for cost-share assistance and the local FSA county committee has conducted an onsite inspection of the damaged area. The agency responsible for technical assistance, such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service, will also need to make a needs determination, such as cubic yards of earthmoving involved in the restoration. 

Producers who have suffered a loss from a natural disaster may contact Darla Rhodes at the Park County FSA office for information on how to apply, or call 307-754-9411. The deadline is Aug. 31.