Puerto Rico’s Department of Agriculture announced federal assistance available for farmers and ranchers affected by ongoing drought conditions. Secretary Irving Rodríguez Torres urged producers to contact the Farm Service Agency (FSA), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to check eligibility and request aid under existing programs. He noted that assistance availability depends on the specific program, the location of the farm operation, losses suffered, and FSA requirements.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that extreme drought nearly doubled in extent in Puerto Rico within a week, now affecting 33.31% of the island’s territory. Some aid programs do not require a Secretarial Disaster Declaration to qualify. Rodríguez Torres urged affected farmers not to wait until conditions worsen, but to contact FSA now, document losses, and learn about qualifying programs.
Among available aid is the Livestock Forage Program (LFP), which compensates ranchers for eligible grazing losses due to drought, helping offset forage losses and added feeding costs. LFP eligibility is triggered by Drought Monitor data and does not require a disaster declaration; producers qualify when their municipality meets drought severity criteria, including D2 (Severe Drought) for a required period or D3 (Extreme Drought).