USDA Designates 27 Counties in Florida as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2011 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 27 counties in Florida as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused drought and excessive heat that began Jan. 1, 2011, and continues.

   “Florida producers can count on USDA to provide emergency assistance during these difficult times,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “President Obama and I are committed to reducing the impact of this disaster for Florida producers and we will commit all available resources to help in recovery.”

   Those counties are:

Bay                                          Holmes                                    Orange

Brevard                                   Jackson                                    Osceola

Calhoun                                   Jefferson                                 Palm Beach

Charlotte                                 Lake                                        Polk

Escambia                                 Lee                                          Santa Rosa

Gadsden                                  Leon                                        Suwannee

Gulf                                         Liberty                                    Wakulla

Hamilton                                 Madison                                  Walton

Hillsborough                           Okaloosa                                 Washington

   Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Florida also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:

Broward                                  Hendry                                    Pasco

Collier                                     Highlands                                Pinellas

Columbia                                 Indian River                            Sarasota

De Soto                                   Lafayette                                 Seminole

Franklin                                   Manatee                                  Sumter

Gilchrist                                  Marion                                     Taylor

Glades                                     Martin                                     Volusia

Hardee                                                Okeechobee 

   Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Alabama and Georgia also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:

Alabama                                                        

Baldwin             Covington          Escambia            Geneva               Houston

                                                                                                           

Georgia                                  

Brooks                         Echols                         Lowndes                     Thomas           

Decatur                       Grady                          Seminole

   All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas July 29, 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.

   FSA news releases are available on FSA’s website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov via the “News and Events” link.

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