The commissioner of agriculture may use state appropriations for disaster assistance. The commissioner, in consultation with the chairs of the house of representatives and senate committees with responsibility for agriculture finance, must develop eligibility criteria to distribute disaster assistance to affected agricultural producers according to need. Assistance may be provided for, but is not limited to, the following: livestock investment grants, organic certification assistance, forage production loss offsets for livestock producers, no-interest disaster recovery loans, other costs related to the disaster, and mental health counseling support to farm families and business operators through farm business management programs. To be eligible for disaster assistance under this section, a producer must operate an agricultural operation in the disaster area.
History:2008 c 247 s 4; 2012 c 187 art 1 s 2