The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are working together to provide assistance to farmers whose crops were damaged by severe flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.
The FDA considers ready-to-eat crops whose edible portion has been in contact with flood waters to be adulterated due to potential exposure to sewage, animal waste, heavy metals, pathogenic microorganisms or other contaminants. Therefore, these crops should not enter the food or animal feed supply. Crops insured by federal crop insurance or by the Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program are covered when floodwaters have rendered them valueless. “We are working closely with the FDA to protect people and livestock from damaged crops, while not penalizing the farmer whose crops are affected,” said Michael Scuse, acting under secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. “I want to assure insured farmers that they are covered under the federal crop insurance program for crops not harvested due to flood damage.”
Disposition of crops in proximity to, or exposed to a lesser degree of flooding, where the edible portion of the crop has not come in contact with flood waters, may need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The USDA encourages all farmers and ranchers to contact their crop insurance companies and local USDA Farm Service Agency Service Centers, as applicable, to report damages to crops or livestock loss. More information about federal crop insurance may be found at www.rma.usda.gov. Additional resources to help farmers and ranchers deal with flooding may be found at www.usda.gov/disaster.
