USDA Designates 19 Counties in Florida as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Dan Florida, Industry News Release, Weather

natural disasterThe U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 19 counties in Florida as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by Hurricane Irma that occurred from Sept. 9, 2017, through Sept.12, 2017. Those counties are:

Alachua Gilchrist Indian River Monroe
Bradford Glades Lake Osceola
Broward Hendry Lee Palm Beach
Charlotte Highlands Marion Sumter
Collier Hillsborough Miami-Dade

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

Baker Lafayette Polk
Brevard Levy Putnam
Citrus Manatee St. Lucie
Clay Martin Sarasota
Columbia Okeechobee Seminole
DeSoto Orange Suwannee
Dixie Pasco Union
Hardee Pinellas Volusia
Hernando

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Oct. 13, 2017, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for FSA’s emergency (EM) loans, provided eligibility usda experts citrus irmarequirements 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 ProgramLivestock Forage Disaster ProgramLivestock Indemnity ProgramEmergency 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.

FSA news releases are available on FSA’s website at www.fsa.usda.gov via the “Newsroom” link.