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USDA designates counties in Colorado, Kansas as ag disaster areas
Decision allows farmers and ranchers to apply for USDA assistance
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has recently designated counties in Colorado and Kansas as primary agricultural disaster areas.
In Colorado the following counties are designated as primary disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing: Baca, Eagle, Jackson, Pitkin, Summit, Chaffee, Fremont, Kit Carson, Pueblo, Cheyenne, Garfield, Lake Prowers, Custer, Grand, Lincoln and Routt.
Drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing, freeze that occurred on May 13, 2004, and hail that occurred on June 5, 2004: Phillips.
Drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing freeze that occurred on May 2, 2004, May 14, 2004, and May 26, 2004 through May 28, 2004; and hail that occurred on June 1, 2004, and June 4, 2004: Yuma.
Drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing, and freeze that occurred on April 12, 2004, April 13, 2004, May 13, 2004, and May 14, 2004: Kiowa
Also eligible because they are contiguous are the following counties for:
Drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing: Arapahoe, Elbert, Larimer, Park, Bent, El Paso, Las Animas, Rio Blanco, Boulder, Gilpin, Mesa, Saguache, Clear Creek, Gunnison, Moffat, Teller, Crowley, Huerfano and Otero.
Drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing, freeze that occurred on May 13, 2004, and hail that occurred on June 5, 2004: Logan, Sedgwick and Yuma.
Drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing, freeze that occurred on May 2, 2004, May 14, 2004, and May 26, 2004 through May 28, 2004; and hail that occurred on June 1, 2004, and June 4, 2004: Kit Carson, Logan, Phillips and Washington.
Freeze that occurred on April 12, April 13, May 13 and May 14, 2004: Bent, Crowley, Otero, Cheyenne, Lincoln and Prowers.
Kansas
The following 10 counties in Kansas have been declared primary agricultural disaster areas by the Secretary because of hail, high winds, tornadoes, excessive rain and flooding that occurred April 23, 2004, through May, 29, 2004: Barber, Geary, Republic, Cloud, Gove, Scott, Cowley, Harper, Sumner and Decatur.
The following 29 counties in Kansas are also eligible because they are contiguous: Butler, Finney, Lane, Ottawa, Thomas, Chautauqua, Graham, Logan, Pratt, Trego, Clay, Jewell, Mitchell, Rawlins, Wabaunsee, Comanche, Kearny, Morris, Riley, Washington, Dickinson, Kingman, Ness, Sedgwick, Wichita, Elk, Kiowa, Norton and Sheridan.
The following 34 counties in Kansas have been declared agricultural disaster areas by the Secretary because of freezing conditions that occurred on April 7, 2004, through May 15, 2004, and drought that occurred from Jan. 1, 2004, and continuing: Cheyenne, Greeley, Logan, Rawlins, Stanton, Decatur, Hamilton, Mitchell, Rooks, Stevens, Ellis, Haskell, Morton, Russell Thomas, Finney, Hodgeman, Ness, Scott, Trego, Gove, Jewell, Norton, Seward, Wallace, Graham, Kearny, Osborne, Sheridan, Wichita, Grant, Lane, Phillips and Sherman.
The following counties in Kansas are eligible because they are contiguous: Barton, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Pawnee, Smith, Cloud, Ford, Meade, Republic, Edwards, Gray, Ottawa and Rush.
The Colorado counties were designated on Aug. 14, 2004; and the Kansas counties were designated on Aug. 20, 2004, making all qualified farm operators eligible for low-interest emergency (EM) loans from the 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 the 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 available, in addition to the emergency loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.
USDA has also made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including 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.
Date: 8/26/04
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