USDA Designates 4 Counties in Nebraska as Primary Natural Disaster Areas, with Assistance Also to Colorado and Kansas
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2011 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated four counties in Nebraska as natural disaster areas due to losses caused severe storms with excessive rain, flash flooding, hail and high winds that occurred May 23-Aug. 11, 2011.
Those counties are:
Arthur Hayes Hitchcock Perkins
“Nebraska producers can continue to count on USDA to provide emergency assistance during difficult times,” 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. President Obama and I are committed to using the resources at our disposal to reduce the impact of these disasters on Nebraska producers and help to get those affected back on their feet.”
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Nebraska also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
Chase Deuel Dundy Frontier Garden Grant
Hooker Keith Lincoln McPherson Red Willow
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Colorado and Kansas also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Colorado
Phillips Sedgwick
Kansas
Rawlins
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Nov. 9, 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.
