Agricultural News
USDA Designates Kansas and Oklahoma Counties as Natural Disaster Areas
Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:41:51 CDT
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 25 counties in Kansas, as well as five counties in Oklahoma, as primary natural disaster areas due to losses of wheat and forage crops caused by drought, excessive heat and high winds that occurred from Jan. 1, 2011, and continuing. Those counties are:
"Assistance at this point and time is critically important for Kansas producers, especially in helping them keep their farmland healthy for the remainder of the year," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "President Obama and I realize that during this time of disaster, federal assistance will be needed until conditions improve as farmers strive to recover their losses."
Barber Cowley Gray Lincoln Russell
Barton Edwards Harper Norton Sedgwick
Butler Ellis Harvey Phillips Stafford
Clark Ford Hodgeman Reno Sumner
Comanche Graham Kingman Rice Trego
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Kansas also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Chase Haskell Ottawa
Chautauqua Kiowa Pawnee
Decatur Marion Pratt
Elk McPherson Rooks
Ellsworth Meade Rush
Finney Mitchell Saline
Gove Ness Smith
Greenwood Osborne Smith
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Nebraska and Oklahoma also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Nebraska
Franklin, Furnas and Harlan
Oklahoma
Alfalfa, Beaver, Grant, Harper, Kay, Osage and Woods
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas June 23, 2011, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.
USDA also has made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008; the Emergency Conservation Program; Federal Crop Insurance; and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.
Click here for more information on Crop Disaster Assistance Programs.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...