Poultry producers impacted by avian flu may apply for state indemnification funds
VIRGINIA - The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) announces that poultry producers who were affected by the 2002 outbreak of Avian Influenza (A.I.) may apply for indemnification funds proposed by Governor Mark Warner and approved by the 2003 General Assembly.
13 August 2003
2 minute read
The 2003 Appropriations Act included $1,500,000 to be paid to contract poultry growers and independent table egg producers for losses associated with the 2002 A.I. outbreak in Rockingham, Augusta, Page, Shenandoah, Highland and Greene Counties.
Virginia poultry growers, the Virginia Poultry Federation, the Virginia Farm Bureau, the Virginia Agribusiness Council, and Virginia poultry companies worked with VDACS to develop a process to identify eligible participants, compute and verify their losses, and process payments. These state payments are in addition to any funds producers may have received from the United States Department of Agriculture. The Virginia Indemnity Program will pay a percentage of income lost as a result of downtime due to lack of replacement flocks, downtime required to lift farm quarantines, flocks marketed early, flocks marketed under controlled slaughter, and loss of table egg-laying flocks infected with A.I., and their eggs.
All applications require company certification and must be delivered by the poultry companies to VDACS Office on Reservoir Street in Harrisonburg. The deadline for all applications is 4 p.m. September 19, 2003. Applications received after this date and time will not be processed.
Source: M2 PressWIRE - 12th August 2003
