Starting July 21, Alaska farmers can sign up for the US Department of Agriculture’s Reimbursement Transportation Cost Payment Program.
Under the 2014 Farm Bill, farmers outside the contiguous US can now receive a portion of the costs of shipping their agricultural products over long distances.
The announcement of the new plan was made last Friday by USDA Farm Service Agency administrator Juan Garcia.
Danny Consenstein is the director of the USDA Farm Service Agency. Consenstein said Alaska peony, hay and barley growers will all benefit. Fish producers are not included in the plan, but oyster farmers in Southeast and Prince William Sound can take advantage of the program.
The reimbursement program also pays producers for the costs of buying supplies needed for planting at the start of the season. The benefits to producers are based on costs incurred each fiscal year, subject to an $8,000 cap. Reimbursements are usually paid back in the spring, Consenstein said.
The ruling also affects Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and other islands far from the US mainland.
The USDA will spend $1.8 million in transportation offset costs for producers enrolled in the program in the last year.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
