Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Wednesday, August 19, 2015
(UNDATED) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 53 counties in Indiana as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain and flooding that occurred during the period of May 1, 2015, and continues.
Those counties are:Adams, Allen, Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown, Cass, Clay, Dearborn, Delaware, Fountain, Gibson, Grant, Greene, Hendrick, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jackson, Jasper, Jay, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Kosciusko, Lake, Laport, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Miami, Monroe, Montgomery, Newton, Ohio, Pike, Porter, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Ripley, Scott, St. Joseph, Starke, Sullivan, Switzerland, Tippecanoe, Vigo, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, Wells
"Our hearts go out to those Indiana farmers affected by recent natural disasters," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "President Obama and I are committed to ensuring that agriculture remains a bright spot in our nation's economy by sustaining the successes of America's farmers and rural communities through these difficult times. We're also telling Indiana producers that USDA stands with you and your communities when severe weather and natural disasters threaten to disrupt your livelihood."
Farmers in the following counties in Indiana also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
Those counties are: Benton, Carroll, Clark, Clinton, Crawford, Daviess, Decatur, Dekalb, Dubois, Elkhart, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton,Hancock, Harrison, Lawrence, Martin, Morgan, Noble, Orange, Owen, Parke, Posey, Rush, Shelby, Tipton, Vanderburgh,Vermillion, Warren, Warrick, White Whitley, Union
Farmers in the following counties in Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are: Illinois - Clark, Crawford, Cook, Edgar, Iroquois, Kankakee, Lawrence, Wabash, White, Will. In Kentucky - Boone, Carroll, Gallatin and Trimble. In Michigan - Berrien Butler, Cass, darke, Defiance, Hamilton, Mercer, Paulding, Preble, Van, Wert
All counties and city listed above were designated natural disaster areas on August 12, 2015, 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.
Additional programs available to assist farmers include the Emergency Conservation Program, The Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Emergency 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.
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