The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 12 more counties in Georgia as primary natural disaster areas due to drought conditions. The Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the Farm Service Agency in Georgia (FSA-GA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans.
The additional primary Georgia counties are Bartow, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Lumpkin, Murray, Pickens, and Whitfield. This announcement expands upon previous designations that declared nine Georgia counties as primary natural disaster areas due to recent severe drought conditions.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the primary counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of:
- D2 Drought-Severe for more than 8 or more consecutive weeks,
- D3 Drought-Extreme or,
- D3 Drought-Exceptional. Producers in additional contiguous Georgia counties are also eligible for disaster relief coverage.
According to FSA-GA, the complete list of primary counties now eligible are Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade, Dawson, Decatur, Early, Fannin, Floyd, Forsyth Gilmer, Gordon, Lumpkin, Miller, Murray, Pickens, Seminole, Union, Walker and Whitfield.
The complete list of contiguous Georgia counties also eligible are Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Cobb, Fulton, Grady, Gwinnett, Hall, Mitchell, Paulding, Polk, Towns and White.
To learn more about deadlines and how to apply for emergency assistance, contact FSA at your local USDA Service Center.