USDA accepting drought relief applications

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a program to assist farm producers after a damaging drought.

The USDA�s Farm Service Agency�s county director, Terry Birk, announced in a news release Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties are approved to accept applications for the Emergency Conservation Program, or ECP, to address drought damages caused by prolonged periods of no or little rainfall in 2017.

Approved ECP practices include water facilities, pipelines, wells and related costs, according to the release.

Producers who sustained damage from the drought are encouraged to submit requests before beginning repair work, the release stated.

ECP signup begins Monday and will end Feb. 21.

For more information on ECP, contact the Farm Service Agency in Bollinger County at 404 E. Main St., Marble Hill, Missouri, (573) 238-2671, ext. 2.

In Cape Girardeau County, contact the Farm Service Agency at 480 W. Jackson Trail in Jackson, (573) 243-1467, ext. 2.