213 counties in Texas receive natural disaster designations
213 counties in Texas receive natural disaster designations
28 June 2011
published by www.southwestfarmpress.com
USA — USDA has designated 213 counties in Texas as primary natural disaster areas due to the drought conditions that have been accompanied by excessive heat, high winds and wildfires that have burned hundreds of thousands of acres.
Many producers have lost their crops due to the devastation caused by the drought and wildfires, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. I want these farmers and ranchers to know that we will support them through the recovery process and help them once again become productive suppliers of food, fiber and fuel that keep America prospering.
This designation will help provide that support, he said, referring to government programs aimed at providing assistance to producers.
The drought, wildfires and other natural disasters – which began Jan. 1, 2011, and continues – caused 30 percent or more loss of forage crops, pasture, corn, oats and wheat in the following counties:
Anderson, Andrews, Angelina, Aransas, Archer, Armstrong, Atascosa, Austin, Bailey, Bandera, Bastrop, Baylor, Bee, Bell, Blanco, Bosque, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Brewster, Briscoe, Brooks, Brown, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Calhoun, Callahan, Cameron, Camp, Cass, Castro, Chambers, Cherokee, Childress, Clay, Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Collin, Collingsworth, Colorado, Comal, Comanche, Concho, Cooke, Coryell, Cottle, Crockett, Crosby, Culberson, Dallam, De Witt, Deaf Smith, Delta, Denton, Dickens, Donley, Duval, Eastland, Edwards, El Paso, Ellis, Erath, Fayette, Fisher, Floyd, Foard, Fort Bend, Franklin, Freestone, Frio, Galveston, Garza, Gillespie, Glasscock, Goliad, Gonzales, Gray, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hale, Hall, Hamilton, Hansford, Hardeman, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Hartley, Haskell, Hays, Hemphill, Hidalgo, Hockley, Hood, Hopkins, Houston, Howard, Hudspeth, Hutchinson, Irion, Jack, Jackson, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, Johnson, Jones, Karnes, Kendall, Kenedy, Kent, Kerr, Kimble, King, Kleberg, Knox, La Salle, Lamar, Lamb, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Lipscomb, Live Oak, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Madison, Marion, Martin, McCulloch, McLennan, McMullen, Medina, Menard, Midland, Mills, Mitchell, Montgomery, Moore, Morris, Motley, Nacogdoches, Newton, Nolan, Ochiltree, Oldham, Orange, Palo Pinto, Panola, Parker, Parmer, Pecos, Polk, Potter, Presidio, Rains, Randall, Reagan, Reeves, Refugio, Roberts, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, San Saba, Schleicher, Scurry, Shackelford, Shelby, Sherman, Smith, Somervell, Starr, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall, Sutton, Swisher, Taylor, Terrell, Throckmorton, Titus, Tom Green, Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Upton, Val Verde, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Wheeler, Wichita, Wilbarger, Willacy, Wood, Young, Zapata
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Texas also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Bexar, Borden, Carson, Crane, Dallas, Dawson, Dimmit, Ector, Falls, Fannin, Gaines, Grayson, Henderson, Hill, Hunt, Kaufman, Kinney, Llano, Mason, Matagorda, Maverick, Milam, Montague, Navarro, Nueces, Real, Red River, Rockwall, Runnels, Tarrant, Terry, Uvalde, Van Zandt, Ward, Wharton, Williamson, Wilson, Winkler, Wise, Yoakum, Zavala
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Arkansas: Little, River, Miller
Louisiana: Beauregard, Caddo, Calcasieu, Cameron, De Soto, Sabine, Vernon,
New Mexico: Curry, Dona Ana, Eddy, Lea, Otero, Quay, Roosevelt, Union
Oklahoma: Beaver, Beckha, Bryan, Choctaw, Cimarron, Cotton, Ellis, Harmon, Jackson, Jefferson, Love, McCurtain, Roger Mills, Texas, Tillman
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas June 24, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDAs Farm Service Agency, 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, 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.
