USDA designates 37 N.C. counties as primary natural disaster areas because of drought

by | Feb 8, 2012

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today that it had designated 37 counties in North Carolina as primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought and excessive heat that occurred during 2011.

Those counties are:

Alamance

Durham

Hyde

Pamlico

Beaufort

Franklin

Johnston

Pender

Brunswick

Gates

Jones

Rockingham

Carteret

Granville

Lee

Sampson

Caswell

Greene

Lenoir

Tyrrell

Chatham

Guilford

Moore

Vance

Columbus

Harnett

New Hanover

Wake

Craven

Hertford

Onslow

Warren

Cumberland

Hoke

Orange

Wayne

Duplin

Farmers in the following N.C. counties also qualify for natural-disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous to primary natural disaster counties:

Bertie

Forsyth

Pasquotank

Robeson

Bladen

Halifax

Perquimans

Scotland

Camden

Martin

Person

Stokes

Chowan

Montgomery

Pitt

Washington

Dare

Nash

Randolph

Wilson

Davidson

Northampton

Richmond

Disaster designation makes qualified farmers eligible for federal loans

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Feb. 6, making all qualified farm operators in the designated counties eligible for low-interest emergency loans from USDA’s 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.

USDA also has made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program; 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.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack reminds producers that the department’s authority to operate the five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 30, 2011. This includes SURE; the Livestock Indemnity Program; the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish; the Livestock Forage Disaster Program; and the Tree Assistance Program. Production losses in the counties listed above are covered because the event triggering the loss occurred prior to the expiration of these programs; however, production losses due to disasters occurring after Sept. 30, 2011, are not eligible for disaster program coverage.

— Information from USDA

Alamance
Durham
Hyde
Pamlico
Beaufort
Franklin
Johnston
Pender
Brunswick
Gates
Jones
Rockingham
Carteret
Granville
Lee
Sampson
Caswell
Greene
Lenoir
Tyrrell
Chatham
Guilford
Moore
Vance
Columbus
Harnett
New Hanover
Wake
Craven
Herford
Onslow
Warren
Cumberland
Hoke
Orange
Wayne
Duplin