BECKLEY, W.Va. — It was a tough winter on many in West Virginia including livestock.
“I’ve had producers say they lost as many as 50 calves in the February snowstorms,” USDA Farm Service Agency state Executive Director Rick Snuffer said. “Some of them have just been finding the dead animals in the last few weeks because of the snow.”
Snuffer said the 2014 federal farm bill includes a new livestock incentive program.
“This will help producers who lose livestock whether it be cattle, sheep, goats, any kind of livestock losses in West Virginia, (reimbursed) up to 75 percent of those dead animals,” Snuffer said.
Producers can get more information about the program at their local USDA office or by calling the state office at 304-284-4800.
Snuffer has been on the road speaking with farmers and other producers. He said extreme cold, snow and rain contributed to the deaths of livestock.
“We had snow 40 inches total accumulation in some places of the state that animals would have possibly been covered or frozen, possibly suffocated in the snow,” Snuffer said.