Livestock and Honey Bee Disaster Assistance Act of 2017
This bill amends the Agricultural Act of 2014 to remove the $20 million annual limit on mandatory funding for emergency assistance under the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP). The bill also removes a provision that permits funds provided under ELAP to remain available until expended.
(ELAP provides financial assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease, certain adverse weather events, or loss conditions, including blizzards and wildfires.)
The bill amends the Agricultural Credit Act of 1978 to specify that the maximum cost-share percentage permitted under the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) is 90% for an area that has been identified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as experiencing extreme or exceptional drought.
(The ECP provides emergency funding and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters and implement emergency conservation measures in periods of severe drought.)