Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Drought Assistance Improvement Act”.
Drought Assistance Improvement Act
A BILL
To improve drought related disaster assistance programs of the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Livestock forage disaster program
Section 1501(c)(3)(D)(ii)(I) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(c)(3)(D)(ii)(I)) is amended—
by striking “at least 8 consecutive” and inserting the following:
“(aa) 4 consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period for the county, as determined by the Secretary, shall be eligible to receive assistance under this paragraph in an amount equal to 1 monthly payment using the monthly payment rate determined under subparagraph (B); or
“(bb) 8 consecutive”
in item (bb) (as so designated), by striking “1 monthly payment” and inserting “2 monthly payments”.
Sec. 3 Emergency assistance for livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish program
Documentation standards— Section 1501(d) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(d)) is amended—
in paragraph (1), by inserting “drought,” after “adverse weather,”;
in paragraph (2), by inserting “adverse weather or drought,” after “disease,”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(5) Documentation standards—For purposes of this subsection, the Secretary, in consultation with eligible producers of farm-raised fish, shall establish a documentation standard for each of the following:
“(A) Collecting data.
“(B) Production of crawfish, as related to reductions in harvest.
“(C) Defining loss conditions due to drought.”
Reduced crawfish harvest eligibility— Subsection 1501(d)(2) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9081(d)(2)) is further amended by inserting “and loss of crawfish harvest due to adverse weather or drought” after “cattle tick fever”.