University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack has designated three Alabama counties as primary natural disaster areas due to a recent drought. Nine additional counties were listed as contiguous disaster counties.
The three primary Alabama counties included in the disaster designation are Dallas, Perry and Wilcox. The nine contiguous counties are Autauga, Bibb, Butler, Chilton, Clark, Hale, Lowndes, Marengo and Monroe.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Other counties in Alabama may have already been designated as natural disaster counties if they had previously met the requirements found under 7 CFR 759.5(a) for the current crop year.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, these counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.
“The drought hit famers in this part of the state during the peak of growing season. We hope this disaster relief from USDA will ease some of the financial burdens,” said Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate. “We encourage farmers to reach out to their local USDA offices for details about available funding.”
A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loan assistance, provided eligibility requirements are met. FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator.
Click here to learn more about farm loan programs or visit your local USDA Service Center.