The Montana Livestock Loss Board is reminding all livestock producers to pay per-capita fees to be eligible to receive compensation for animals killed by covered predators.
On Monday July 22nd, the Livestock Loss Board said on Facebook that they received four separate claims but none of the four livestock owners had paid their per-capita fees. The claims will be paid but had they come in after October 1st, the board would not be able to pay them.
That’s because a new law was passed by the state legislature this year that will require livestock owners to have paid the previous years’ per capita fee to the Department of Livestock before they are eligible to receive any payments from the Livestock Loss Board.
Per capita fees are per-head fees assessed on all livestock. “Livestock” includes bees, poultry, sheep, swine, beef cattle, dairy cattle, horses and mules, domestic bison, domestic ungulates and ratites.
Livestock owners are responsible for self-reporting and fees are collected annually through the Department of Revenue. Per capita dollars are a critical piece of the Department of Livestock’s overall budget. While the fees do not fund the loss board, they do support programs that monitor animal health, manage predators, monitor and restrict livestock imports and more. The Department also uses this funding source to administer programs that prevent the spread of animal diseases to humans.
So, a good reminder for Montana producers to make sure they are current on those fees, so you can receive compensation if you run into depredations from grizzlies, wolves or mountain lions.
For more information on per-capita fees, visit the Department of Livestock online at http://liv.mt.gov/.
Photo courtesy BLM
