WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2011 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 11 counties in Alabama as natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought that began April 1, 2011, and continues.
The counties are:
Baldwin Barbour Coffee Covington Dale Escambia Geneva Henry
Houston Mobile Russell
“President Obama and I understand that this drought has caused severe damage to crops in Alabama and we want to help,” 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. This action will provide assistance to hundreds of farmers in Alabama who suffered significant production losses during this challenging season.”
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Alabama also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Bullock Butler Clarke Conecuh Lee Macon Monroe Pike Washington
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Florida, Georgia and Mississippi also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Florida:
Escambia Holmes Jackson Okaloosa Santa Rosa Walton
Georgia:
Chattahoocheem Clay Early Muscogee Quitman Seminole Stewart
Mississippi:
George Greene Jackson
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Sept. 21, 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 at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.