§ 1439.103 - Eligible loss.

(a) To be eligible for 2003/2004 LAP, for losses during the 2003 or 2004 calendar years, a producer must have owned or leased grazing land within the physical boundary of a disaster county that was approved as a primary county under a Secretarial disaster designation or Presidential disaster declaration in 2003 or 2004, or approved as a primary county after December 31, 2004, for qualifying losses that occurred prior to January 1, 2005 (That is, losses in 2003 and 2004).

(b) To be eligible for benefits under this subpart, a livestock producer in an eligible county must have suffered a loss of grazing production in an eligible county equivalent to at least a 40-percent loss of normal carrying capacity for a minimum of 3 consecutive months during the 2003 or 2004 production year as defined in § 1439.102.

(c)(1) Producers in counties contiguous to an eligible county that were not designated as a disaster county in their own right will not receive benefits under this subpart.

(2) Grazing losses must have occurred on native and improved pasture with permanent vegetative cover and other crops planted specifically for the sole purpose of providing grazing for livestock, but such losses do not include losses on, or with respect to, land seeded to small grain forage crops.

(d) The percentage of loss eligible for compensation shall not exceed the maximum percentage of grazing loss for the county as determined by the FSA county committee and not be greater than 80 percent; and

(e) The FSA county committee shall determine the producer's grazing loss and shall consider the amount of available grazing production during the LAP normal grazing period, whether more than the normal acreage of grazing land was required to support livestock during the LAP normal grazing period, and whether supplemental feeding of livestock began earlier or later than normal. The FSA county committee shall request the producer to provide proof of loss of grazing production if the FSA county committee determines the producer's certified loss exceeds other similarly situated livestock producers.

(f) The percentage of loss claimed by a livestock producer shall not exceed the maximum allowable percentage of grazing loss for the county as determined by the FSA county committee in accordance with § 1439.105(a). Livestock producers will not receive benefits under this subpart for any portion of their loss that exceeds 80 percent of normal carrying capacity.