Shrimping Stimulus Funds

Posted: Jul 28, 2010 5:55 PM by Shawn Kline
Updated: Jul 28, 2010 5:59 PM

If the federal government gave you a one-page application and said to you:
"Fill this out and we'll give you $4,000."
You'd probably just ask where to sign. Easy money, right? This is the dilemma many shrimpers are facing. It sounds too easy.
"It's just a matter of spending the time to go through what you need to go through to receive this money," Larry Thibodeaux says.
Thibodeaux is the Director for Vermilion Parish's Farming Service Agency. In order to receive any stimulus funds, applicants in the shrimping industry need to go through his office and be approved.
"It's a three-phase process," Thibodeaux says.
Once approved, shrimpers must take an introductory course with LSU's Cooperative Extension Service. The orientation takes about one to two hours. This is Phase One.
Phase two takes about three or four meetings, totaling 12-hours of class-time.
"If you go through the first two phases," Thibodeaux says, "you qualify for the initial payment of four-thousand dollars."
The third and final phase is optional but shrimpers can earn up to an additional $8,000. Sounds good right?
Some shrimpers aren't buying the hype.
"It's aggravating," shrimper Jimmie Dupre says.
Dupre has applied for federal funding before- he says one application turns into a stack of paperwork and hours of lost time.
"It's so much paperwork," Dupre says. "I just throw it in the trash- they can keep their money."
Like similar predecessors, the program sounds good. Dupre however, says he's tired of having to apply and reapply every year. That's just the gripe with the paperwork. The class-time is another issue.
"53-years I've been doing this," Dupre said. "What are they going to teach me?"
He says he doesn't need to put together a business model because he's selling shrimp just fine. The difficulty is finding the shrimp.
"I can't catch what I've sold right now," Dupre said.
However, if he's looking for any federal tax dollars to help, he needs to take the classes.
"He's going to have to go through the training," Thibodeaux says. "He's going to have to go through the business plan... Bottom line."
Of course, anyone who could make more than 300-dollars an hour in classes would look into the process- as in Dupre's case. Still, he says, that's all the program would be good for- the money.
"If I go, it'd be for the $4,000." Dupre says, "I wouldn't go to try to learn something, so I'd probably go to school and just sleep."

$12,000 is a lot of money though. More than a thousand shrimpers across Louisiana applied for similar programs in the past. The Department of Agriculture says they expect similar outcomes this year.

So how do you apply? First, you need to contact your local Farming Service Agency with the USDA. Then, you need to qualify and there are three different ways to qualify:

Option 1 - applicant sold less shrimp in 2008 than in the most recent year that shrimp was harvested out of the last three years.

Option 2 - applicant received a lower average price in 2008 as compared to the average price of 2007, 2006 and 2005.

Option 3 - the Regional or State price on May 3, 2010, was less than the previous 3 year average. Documentation would be sent to the National Office for approval.

If you'd like to find out more about these stimulus funds, here are some other websites to look into:

http://www.TAAforfarmers.org

http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/taa/taa.asp

http://intra3.fsa.usda.gov/dam/ffasforms/forms.html