USDA DESIGNATES 41 ALABAMA COUNTIES PRIMARY NATURAL DISASTER AREAS
Decision Allows Farmers and Ranchers to Apply for USDA Assistance
WASHINGTON, May 17, 2007 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated 41 Alabama counties primary natural disaster areas due to unseasonably low temperatures, frost and freezing conditions that occurred from April 6, 2007, through April 8, 2007. Those counties are:
Autauga         Cullman          Lauderdale       Pickens
Bibb              De Kalb          Lawrence          Randolph
Blount            Etowah           Lee                    Shelby
Calhoun         Fayette            Limestone         St. Clair
Chambers      Franklin         Madison            Sumter
Cherokee      Greene             Marion             Talladega
Chilton           Hale               Marshall           Tallapoosa
Clay               Jackson          Monroe             Tuscaloosa
Cleburne       Jefferson       Morgan              Walker
Colbert           Lamar           Perry                  Winston
Coosa
Also eligible in Alabama because they are contiguous are the
following counties:
Baldwin         Dallas            Marengo
Butler            Elmore           Montgomery
Choctaw        Escambia       Russell
Clarke            Lowndes        Wilcox
Conecuh         Macon
In addition, the counties below in the following adjacent states are also eligible because they are contiguous counties:Â
Georgia:
Carroll, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Haralson, Harris, Heard, Muscogee, Polk, Troup and Walker countiesÂ
Mississippi:
Itawamba, Kemper, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Monroe, Noxubee and Tishomingo counties
Tennessee:
Franklin, Giles, Hardin, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion and Wayne counties
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on May 14, 2007, 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 has also made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including 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 at:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=landing