USDA Designates Ag Disastere Counties

WASHINGTON - Jan 25/06 - SNS -- The USDA designated counties in Colorado, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York and Washington as primary natural disaster areas, making all qualified farm operators eligible for low-interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).

In Colorado, Logan County was designated as a primary disaster area due to losses caused by ongoing drought, crop disease and insect infestation that occurred from Jan. 1, 2005, and continuing

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma Counties.

In Mississippi, all counties, except Pontotoc and Union Counties, were designated as primary disaster areas due to losses caused by the combined effects of drought, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that occurred during the period beginning Jan 2, 2005, and continuing.

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are Pontotoc and Union Counties.

In New Jersey, 19 counties were designated as primary disaster areas due to losses caused by the combined effects of excessive precipitation, drought, excessive heat and high humidity that occurred from June 1, 2005, through Oct. 6, 2005. Those counties are:

Atlantic, Cape May, Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Bergen, Cumberland, Mercer, Ocean, Sussex, Burlington, Essex, Middlesex, Passaic, Warren, Camden, Gloucester, Monmouth, Salem

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are Hudson and Union Counties.

In New York, 12 counties were designated as primary disaster areas.

Due to losses caused by drought and high temperatures that occurred from Apr. 1, 2005, and continuing, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Orleans, Rensselaer, Steuben and Yates Counties were designated as primary disaster areas.

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are the following counties:

Albany, Greene, Saratoga, Chautauqua, Livingston, Schuyler, Chemung, Monroe, Seneca, Columbia, Niagara, Tompkins, Cortland, Onondaga, Washington, Erie, Ontario, Wayne, Genesee, Oswego, Wyoming

Dutchess, Putnam, Rensselaer, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester were designated as primary disaster areas due to losses caused by excessive rain, high winds, flooding and flash flooding that occurred from Oct. 7, 2005, and continuing.

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are the following counties:

Albany, Columbia , Greene, Orange , Sullivan, Bronx, Delaware , Nassau, Saratoga, Washington

Washington

In Washington, 16 counties were designated as primary disaster areas.

The following counties were designated as primary disaster areas due to losses caused by drought that occurred during the current disaster year beginning Jan. 1, 2005, and continuing:

Benton, Cowlitz, Kittitas, Skamania, Yakima, Clark, Douglas, Klickitat, Wahkiakum, Columbia , Franklin, Lincoln, Walla Walla

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are the following counties:

Adams, Garfield, Lewis, Pierce, Whitman, Chelan, Grant, Okanogan, Spokane, Ferry, King, Pacific, Stevens

Garfield and Whitman Counties were designated as primary disaster areas due to losses caused by drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2005, and continuing.

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Franklin, Lincoln and Spokane Counties.

Pacific County was designated a primary disaster area due to losses caused by a hail storm that occurred on Sept. 9, 2005.

Also eligible because they are contiguous and have sustained production losses due to the same disaster conditions are Grays Harbor, Lewis and Wahkiakum Counties.

Amelia, Floyd, Louisa, Pulaski, Bland, Fluvanna, Lunenburg, Scott, Brunswick, Franklin, Mecklenburg, Shenandoah, Buckingham, Frederick, Montgomery, Smyth, Campbell, Giles, Nelson, Southampton, Charlotte, Greensville, Nottoway, Tazewell, Chesterfield, Halifax, Page, Wythe, Cumberland, Isle of Wight, Pittsylvania, Dinwiddie, King and Queen, Powhatan, Essex, Lee, Prince Edward

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Jan. 9, 2006, making all qualified farm operators eligible for EM loans, provided eligibility requirements are met.