S. 1669: Crawfish Recovery Assistance from Weather Disasters And Droughts Act

This bill, named the Crawfish Recovery Assistance from Weather Disasters And Droughts Act (CRAWDAD Act), aims to improve disaster assistance programs related to drought and adverse weather for agricultural producers, specifically focusing on the crawfish industry and related livestock sectors. Here’s what the bill includes:

Key Provisions

• Emergency Assistance Updates: The bill amends existing laws to ensure that drought is recognized as a qualifying event for emergency assistance for livestock, honey bees, and farm-raised fish. This means producers can receive help specifically for losses due to drought conditions.
• Application Scope: It broadens the scope of assistance to include not just adverse weather events but also explicitly mentions drought as a significant cause of loss for producers of farm-raised fish such as crawfish.
• Documentation Standards: The Secretary of Agriculture is tasked with establishing documentation standards to help eligible producers collect necessary data, define loss conditions, and track reductions in crawfish production due to adverse weather or drought.
• Livestock Forage Disaster Program Changes: The bill also modifies existing provisions concerning the livestock forage disaster program by explicitly including both weaned and unweaned livestock in the definition of eligible livestock. This change aims to ensure a wider range of livestock producers can access assistance when their forage is affected by disasters.

Overall Goals

The primary goal of the CRAWDAD Act is to provide better support and financial assistance to those in the crawfish and related livestock industries who face losses due to adverse weather events, particularly droughts. By updating documentation and eligibility requirements, the bill seeks to streamline the process for obtaining assistance and ensure that affected producers are covered under disaster relief programs.

Implementation and Impact

If enacted, the adjustments made by this bill would enhance the federal response to disasters affecting agricultural production, particularly for those involved in the crawfish industry, by making it easier for producers to access emergency funds and support during challenging weather conditions.

Relevant Companies

None found