March ended and April began with severe weather blanketing much of the Hoosier state.
“A confirmed 22 tornadoes across Indiana,” says Julia Wickard, State Executive Director the Indiana Farm Service Agency. “We haven’t had that kind of devastation in our state for a long time.”
She says FSA employees have been on the phones and taking meetings in the office with producers since last weekend to discuss storm damage.
“If a producer has not come into our office to report any kind of physical loss, any kind of physical damage, to buildings or certainly livestock issues, honeybee production, any conservation measures that might have been damaged, those things really need to be reported soon.”
Wickard was appreciative of Governor Holcomb’s swift action to declare disaster emergencies in Benton, Johnson, Monroe, Morgan, Owen, Sullivan, and White counties.
She was also complimentary and appreciative of the FSA employees serving those areas. Wickard says they have been proactive in reaching out to producers.
“They’re reaching out to those customers, making sure they haven’t missed anyone. But if for some reason we have, our county offices stand ready to assist that producer that comes in the door, makes the phone call, to make sure that they would be eligible for any kind of disaster assistance when it would become available.”
Wickard reiterates that any damage should be reported whether it’s damage to a barn or a piece of equipment. She says they’ve had reports of honeybee hives that were decimated and there are programs for those as well.
