Perry, TSCRA Seek Indemnity
For Stock Lost To Flooding

AUSTIN — Texas Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry and the Texas And Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association late last week both asked USDA to include livestock lost in the recent Texas floods within the federal Livestock Indemnity Program.

"Disaster assistance, grants and low interest loans will be beneficial," Perry said. "However, we need to address the specific needs of our livestock producers who were hit hard this year, first by drouth and now by severe flooding."

"Still reeling from a devastating drouth," said TSCRA president C. Coney Burgess, "our members in South Texas are now suffering from ravaging floods of monstrous proportions. Estimates are as many as 15,000 head of cattle and other livestock may be lost. After the waters receded, we may indeed find that they toll will go higher.

"We also ask," Burgess wrote to USDA Secretary Dan Glickman, "that, after this relief is authorized, you use the power of your office to see that the aid comes swiftly — unhampered by the red tape of bureaucracy."

The indemnity program provides partial reimbursement to eligible producers for livestock lost in natural disasters. It is available to producers in counties receiving a disaster declaration. So far, President Clinton has recognized 20 Texas counties with such a declaration.

The indemnity program helped producers in the Midwest last year who lost livestock to flooding and Texas producers who lost livestock in the Jarrell tornado.

"USDA needs to be prepared to immediately help our producers as soon as they can begin assessing their damages and losses," Perry said in his letter to Glickman. "The Livestock Indemnity Program needs to be funded and ready to help those who have suffered back-to-back disasters."

Burgess asked that USDA also explore other avenues of assistance, such as extending the emergency assistance program, and Perry, along with U.S. Sens. Phil Gramm and Kay Baily Hutchison, asked that Glickman use some feed assistance funds to cover losses of harvested forage destroyed by the floods.

On a related note, the Texas Animal Health Commission offered advice on identifying stray livestock and disposing of livestock carcasses.

TAHC executive director and state veterinarian Dr. Terry Beals noted that carcasses can be burned, buried or rendered, and that the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission is responsible for determining the suitability of an area for burial.

Because of the magnitude of losses, Beals said, TNRCC is allowing up to 10 animals to be burned or buried on private property sites; larger numbers require notification of the agency.

He advised landowners who intend to bury carcasses that pits should be 10 to 12 feet deep, six to eight feet wide, and located "away from water drainage areas, wells, houses or businesses."

Beals also asked that identification tags be retrieved or their numbers written down so TAHC can help identify and notify owners. This is especially true of metal eartags such as those issued under brucellosis vaccination programs.

"The metal eartags on cattle are like license tags," Beals said, "and by inputting the numbers into TAHC’s computer system, we can locate the owner."