The U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted a Secretarial disaster declaration for several Northwest Florida counties impacted by Hurricane Sally including Gulf and Liberty Counties.
The disaster declaration opens access to Farm Service Agency disaster loans for agriculture producers in counties where this aid was not previously available from earlier declarations. including Calhoun, Gadsden, Jackson, Gulf, Leon, and Liberty Counties.
Hurricane Sally made landfall along the Florida/Alabama border on September 16th.
The Category 2 storm unleashed close to thirty inches of rain across the Florida Panhandle, flooding hundreds of thousands of acres of farms and causing up to 100 percent crop losses.
Agricultural crops in Florida impacted by Hurricane Sally include 100,000 acres each of peanuts, cotton, and hay; 10,000 acres of corn; 4,000 acres of horse farms, and other important commodities including seafood, aquaculture, pecans, walnuts, and timber.
Farmers in eligible counties will have eight months from December 22nd to apply for emergency loans.
FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator.
Agriculture producers are encouraged to contact their local Farm Service Agency office for additional details.
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