LINCOLN, Neb. — Farmers who lost grain stored in bins because of natural disasters may be eligible for USDA payments.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) in Nebraska announced payments are now available, for farmers who lost commodities stored on-farm in natural disasters in 2018 or 2019.

The On-Farm Storage Loss Program (OFSLP) was included in the Disaster Relief Act of 2019.

FSA is overseeing hte program, which provides payments to eligible producers in impacted counties who suffered uncompensated losses of harvested commodities including grains, oilseeds and hay stored in on-farm structures. For producers to receive payment, the losses must be directly related to an eligible disaster event such as floods, tornadoes, snowstorms and wildfires that occurred during 2018 and/or 2019.

“There are producers throughout the country who had their on-farm storage structures damaged or destroyed by natural disasters during 2018 and 2019,” said FSA State Executive Director Nancy Johner. “This disaster recovery program pays eligible producers who lost their on-farm stored commodities. We encourage producers who suffered a loss to contact their county FSA office for program information and application.”

Under the program, grain must be stored in structures on the farm, not used for commercial storage, that would have normally maintained the quality of the grain.

Commodities stored in warehouses are not covered under this program, and the OFSLP payments do not cover the loss of the structure, only the commodities inside.

Eligible commodities include barley, canola, chickpeas (large and small), corn, cotton, crambe, dry peas, flaxseed, grain sorghum, hay (alfalfa and all-hay), lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, rapeseed, rice, safflower seed, sesame seed, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.

FSA uses a national payment rate per commodity, which is based on market or harvest prices. Payments will be calculated using a 75 percent factored FSA payment rate multiplied by the quantity lost while stored.

There's a payment limit of $125,000 per entity. For additional details and to submit an application, producers should contact their local FSA office.