Agricultural News
Counties Across Oklahoma Designated Natural Disaster Areas by USDA
Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:27:41 CDT
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated more counties as natural disaster areas across Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. Six counties in Oklahoma, Craig, Nowata, Osage, Ottawa and Washington, have been added to the list because they are contiguous to the counties affected in Kansas.
20 counties in Kansas were named as natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought, excessive heat and high winds that began Jan. 1, 2011, and continues.The counties are:
Allen, Cherokee, Greenwood, Neosho, Anderson, Coffey, Labette, Pawnee, Bourbon, Crawford, Linn, Rush, Chase, Elk, Lyon, Wilson, Chautauqua, Ellsworth, Montgomery, Woodson
"Kansas producers can continue to count on USDA to provide emergency assistance during difficult times," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "America's farmers and rural communities are vitally important to our nation's economy, producing the food, feed, fiber and fuel that continue to help us grow and out-compete the rest of the world. President Obama and I are committed to use the resources at our disposal to reduce the impact of this disaster on Kansas producers and help to get those affected back on their feet."
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Kansas also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Barton, Franklin, Miami, Russell, Butler, Hodgeman, Morris, Saline, Cowley, Lincoln, Ness, Stafford, Edwards, Marion, Osage, Wabaunsee, Ellis, McPherson, Rice
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Missouri qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Missouri
Barton, Bates, Jasper, Newton and Vernon
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Sept. 20, 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. Additional information is also available online by clicking here.
To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).
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