H.R. 441: Drought Assistance Improvement Act

This bill, titled the Drought Assistance Improvement Act, aims to enhance the assistance programs related to drought and adverse weather events managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Here’s a summary of what the bill proposes:

Changes to Livestock Forage Disaster Program

The bill modifies the eligibility criteria for the Livestock Forage Disaster Program. The proposed changes are:

• It reduces the requirement for the duration of drought conditions from at least 8 consecutive weeks to not less than 4 consecutive weeks during the normal grazing period.
• It changes the assistance provided under certain conditions from 1 monthly payment to 2 monthly payments when specific criteria are met.

Emergency Assistance Adjustments

The bill also amends the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program by:

• Including drought as a recognized adverse weather condition, thus allowing for support specifically for losses attributed to drought.
• Updating the documentation requirements to include new standards for data collection, particularly concerning the impacts of drought on the production of farm-raised fish and the definition of loss conditions due to drought.

Documentation Standards

Under this bill, the USDA Secretary, with the help of eligible fish producers, is tasked with establishing:

• Standards for collecting data about the production of crawfish.
• Criteria for categorizing loss due to drought.

Crawfish Harvest Eligibility

Finally, the bill allows for the inclusion of losses from crawfish harvests caused by adverse weather or drought in the eligibility criteria for assistance. This means that if producer's crawfish harvest is negatively affected by drought conditions, they may be eligible for aid.

Relevant Companies

• ADM - Archer Daniels Midland Company may see changes in their operational viability in regions affected by drought, influencing their supply chain and grain sourcing.
• TSN - Tyson Foods could be impacted through disruptions in livestock feed availability and associated costs due to changes in forage disaster assistance.
• CANY - Canyon Creek Foods may face challenges in their seafood harvest due to the adverse conditions acknowledged in the bill.