Today, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., applauded Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s decision to declare 150 drought-stricken counties in Georgia disaster areas, as requested by Gov. Nathan Deal. Since April 2011, many parts of Georgia have experienced extreme weather conditions and suffered numerous crop losses. With the USDA Secretarial Disaster Designation, Georgia farmers will be able to apply for emergency loans and other benefits to ease losses.
“This is good news for farmers in our state,” said Sen. Chambliss, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “Our producers battle severe weather conditions year after year, and this designation will help ensure that they can recover from the severe drought conditions. The disaster designation is the first step in that recovery process, and I appreciate Gov. Deal’s hard work on this issue.”
Producers in the designated counties are now eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008. Farmers have eight months to apply for emergency loan assistance. FSA will consider each application on its own merit by taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
Sen. Chambliss encourages producers to check with their local FSA offices regarding eligibility for SURE and other disaster assistance programs. Additional information can be found at www.fsa.usda.gov or www.fema.gov.
Eligible counties are:
Appling
Coffee
Gordon
McDuffie
Sumter
Atkinson
Colquitt
Grady
McIntosh
Taliaferro
Bacon
Columbia
Gwinnett
Meriwether
Tattnall
Baker
Cook
Habersham
Miller
Taylor
Banks
Coweta
Hall .
Mitchell
Telfair
Barrow
Crawford
Hancock
Monroe
Terrell
Bartow
Crisp
Haralson
Montgomery
Thomas
Ben Hill
Dade
Harris
Morgan
Tift
Berrien
Dawson
Hart
Murray
Toombs
Bibb
De Kalb
Heard
Oconee
Towns
Bleckley
Decatur
Henry
Oglethorpe
Treutlen
Brantley
Dodge
Houston
Paulding
Troup
Brooks
Dooly
Irwin
Peach
Turner
Bryan
Dougherty
Jackson
Pickens
Twiggs
Bulloch
Douglas
Jeff Davis
Pierce
Union
Burke
Early
Jefferson
Pike
Upson
Butts
Echols
Jenkins
Polk
Walker
Calhoun
Effingham
Johnson
Pulaski
Walton
Camden
Elbert
Lamar
Putnam
Ware
Candler
Emanuel
Lanier
Quitman
Warren
Carroll
Evans
Laurens
Rabun
Washington
Catoosa
Fannin
Lee
Randolph
Wayne
Charlton
Fayette
Liberty
Richmond
Webster
Chatham
Floyd
Lincoln
Rockdale
Wheeler
Chattooga
Forsyth
Long
Schley
White
Cherokee
Franklin
Lowndes
Screven
Whitfield
Clarke
Fulton
Lumpkin
Seminole
Wilcox
Clay
Gilmer
Macon
Spalding
Wilkes
Clinch
Glascock
Madison
Stephens
Wilkinson
Cobb
Glynn
Marion
Stewart
Worth
Nine additional counties are named as contiguous disaster counties. Those counties are:
Baldwin, Clayton, Jasper, Muscogee, Talbot, Chattahoochee, Greene, Jones, Newton