"These

funds will help producers recover from the

effects of the severe 1999 drought by

rehabilitating valuable pasture land and

providing feed for livestock," said Carter.

Eligible

land included pasture normally grazed by

livestock, but so damaged by drought that seeding

was required to re-establish the forage crop. FSA

county offices will issue payments after farmers

have completed the planting practice for the

re-established forage crop. "A lot of

planting will occur this fall, to replace the

fescue damaged last year," said Carter.

The

Pasture Recovery Program was announced by

Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman March 13,

and FSA conducted a sign-up from March 20 to June

23.

Since

producer demand (nationally) exceeded the amount

of funds available by approximately $14 million,

a national factor was applied to all requests.

All eligible producers will receive about 73.5

percent of the amount they qualified for under

PRP. Georgia FSA originally requested close to

$1.2 million for PRP.

Additional

information on the Pasture Recovery Program can

be found on the Farm Service Agency's web site at

https://www.fsa.usda.gov .

FSA's

mission is to help stabilize farm income and to

provide credit to new or disadvantaged farmers,

help them resume their operations following a

disaster, and help them conserve land and water

resources.