Horse Farms Added To Disaster Relief Program

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Gov. Steve Beshear says Kentucky's horse breeding farms have been added to the ventures eligible to seek certain federal relief from disasters affecting agriculture.

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Those horse farms will be eligible in the future to seek assistance from a federal emergency conservation program.

That program provides emergency funding and technical assistance to restore farmland damaged by natural disasters. It also applies to emergency water conservation measures during times of drought.

Beshear urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider its disaster-relief polices to include horse farms. Since Beshear took office in 2008, the state has had 11 federally declared disasters.

The policy change applies to equine farms that produce breeding stock for commercial use as part of their farming operation and claim the breeding stock for tax purposes with the IRS.