Drought Emergency Declared For 33 Alabama Counties
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: July 16, 2012
Governor
Robert
Bentley and Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan announced Friday that
farmers in nearly half of Alabama's counties will be eligible for
low-interest federal loans as a result of a drought emergency
declaration by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack.
"While
much of the state has received rain this week, it is not enough to
eliminate the severe and extreme
drought conditions that many places are experiencing," Governor Bentley
said. "Farmers across Alabama are suffering through what has been an
extended drought from last year. We appreciate Secretary Vilsack's
response to this critical situation that affects
so many Alabama families."
In a July 12 letter to Governor Bentley, Secretary Vilsack designated the following 33 counties as "primary
natural disaster areas" suffering from severe or extreme drought:
Autauga,
Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Chilton, Clay,
Cleburne, Coffee, Conecuh,
Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva,
Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Randolph,
Russell, Talladega, Tallapoosa and Wilcox
An
additional
12 counties were named as "contiguous disaster counties." Those
counties are also eligible for federal low-interest loans and include:
Calhoun, Cherokee, Clarke, Hale, Jefferson, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, St. Clair, Shelby, Tuscaloosa
and Washington
"There are many growers of commodity crops such as corn, soybeans, cotton and peanuts, who have suffered damage
from the drought,"
said Commissioner McMillan of the Alabama Department of Agriculture
& Industries. "Farmers should contact their local office of the
Farm Service
Agency (FSA) to determine their eligibility and begin the process for
loan application."
Additional
counties could be added to the declaration in the coming weeks as the
USDA Drought Monitor (http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu)
provides weekly reports on drought conditions. The counties declared as
primary natural disaster areas this week have faced severe drought
conditions for at least eight consecutive weeks or extreme drought
conditions at any time during the growing season.
McMillan
noted that farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date
of a secretarial disaster
declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance. FSA will consider
each emergency loan application based on objective standards with regard
to production losses, security available and repayment ability.
