Funding Still Available To Assist Wildfire Victims (5/12/2017)

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller reminds all eligible agricultural producers affected by the recent wildfires in Gray, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts and Wheeler counties that the State of Texas Agriculture Relief (STAR) Fund is still open for applications. The deadline to apply is June 2, which is now only three weeks away.

“The STAR Fund currently has more than $100,000 available,” Commissioner Miller said. “Folks, I urge you to apply for this grant, because every single Texan across the state depends on producers just like you to provide the food and fiber to keep us alive and keep our economy strong. Every single dollar was donated by a private person or business — none of the funding is from taxpayer dollars. This money was sent in by other good, hardworking people who just want to help y’all get operations back up and running.”

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is offering a cost-share reimbursement program to qualified ag producers not to exceed $4,000 per applicant. STAR Fund money may be used to assist farmers and ranchers in rebuilding fences, restoring operations and paying for other agricultural disaster relief costs needed to rebuild their operations. The producer will need to provide documentation of the expenses such as an invoice detailing the goods or services purchased. If costs have not yet been incurred, TDA still encourages producers to submit an application by the deadline. Documentation of expenses can be submitted at a later date.