USDA Designates 102 Counties in Georgia as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Taylor Hillman Industry News Release

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In response to a request from Dianne Westmoreland, Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) acting State Executive Director in Georgia, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 102 counties in Georgia as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought.

Those counties are:

Baldwin Fannin Laurens Rockdale
Banks Fayette Lincoln Schley
Barrow Floyd Lumpkin Spalding
Bartow Forsyth McDuffie Stephens
Bibb Franklin Macon Stewart
Bleckley Fulton Madison Sumter
Butts Gilmer Marion Talbot
Carroll Glascock Meriwether Taliaferro
Catoosa Gordon Monroe Taylor
Chattahoochee Greene Morgan Terrell
Chattooga Gwinnett Murray Towns
Cherokee Habersham Muscogee Troup
Clarke Hall Newton Twiggs
Clay Hancock Oconee Union
Clayton Haralson Oglethorpe Upson
Cobb Harris Paulding Walker
Columbia Hart Peach Walton
Coweta Heard Pickens Warren
Crawford Henry Pike Washington
Dade Houston Polk Webster
Dawson Jackson Pulaski White
DeKalb Jasper Putnam Whitfield
Dodge Jefferson Quitman Wilcox
Dooly Johnson Rabun Wilkes
Douglas Jones Randolph Wilkinson
Elbert Lamar

 

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Georgia also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

Ben Hill Crisp Emanuel Telfair Turner
Burke Dougherty Lee Treutlen Wheeler
Calhoun Early Richmond

 

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Feb. 23, 2017, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for FSA’s emergency (EM) loans, 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.

Other FSA programs that can provide assistance, but do not require a disaster declaration, include Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree 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.