The USDA has
designated six counties in Florida as primary natural disaster areas in three
separate designations due to various disasters.
“Our hearts go out to
those Florida farmers and ranchers 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, ranchers, and rural communities through
these difficult times.”
Designation
#1
USDA has designated
Flagler, Putnam, and St. Johns counties as primary natural disaster areas due
to freezes and frosts that occurred Feb. 17–March 4, 2013. Farmers and ranchers
in Alachua, Clay, Duval, Marion, and Volusia counties also qualify for natural
disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
Designation
#2
USDA has designated
Holmes and Washington counties as primary natural disaster areas due to frosts,
excessive rain, flooding, flash flooding, and high winds that occurred Feb.
4–March 4, 2013. Farmers and ranchers in Bay, Jackson, and Walton counties also
qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
Growers in Geneva County in Alabama also qualify for natural disaster
assistance because their county is contiguous.
Designation
#3
USDA has designated
Palm Beach County as a primary natural disaster area due to freezes, frosts,
and high winds that occurred March 3-4, 2013. Farmers and ranchers in Broward,
Glades, Hendry, Martin, and Okeechobee counties in Florida also qualify for
natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
Emergency
Loans Available
All counties listed
above were designated natural disaster areas, 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 and ranchers include 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 also is available on the agency's disaster website.
Source: USDA news
release
An interesting discussion is worth comment.
ReplyDeleteI do think that you need to publish more on this
subject, it might not be a taboo subject but usually people don't speak about such topics. To the next! Many thanks!!
Also visit my web site - A total noob