MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday officially designated 25 Alabama counties as natural disaster areas as a result of excessive rainfall, wind and flooding that occurred this year. The designation makes farmers in those counties eligible for financial assistance from the USDA Farm Service Agency.
In announcing the designation, Governor Robert Bentley said it will provide a much-needed safety net for Alabama’s largest industry.
“Agriculture generates billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs in Alabama,” he said. “As a result of this Secretarial Natural Disaster Designation from USDA, farmers will have additional resources available to assist them in recovering from the excessive rain and flooding we have experienced this year. I appreciate Secretary (of Agriculture) Vilsack for making resources available to those who qualify.”
Carla Hornady of the Alabama Farmers Federation agreed, adding that harvest was delayed for much of the state’s cotton, peanuts and soybeans.
“Even if farmers could get their crops in, the quality has been compromised,” said Hornady, who is the Federation’s director for cotton, soybeans, and wheat and feed grains divisions. “We will work with farmers around the state to help assess damage and keep them abreast of any assistance that becomes available.
“There are some crops that can’t be rushed,” she continued. “Farmers work long hours every fall to get their crops in, but when weather conditions won’t allow them to get in the field, there’s not much they can do.”
The 25 counties covered by the natural disaster designation are: Baldwin, Barbour, Butler, Bullock, Chambers, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Tallapoosa and Wilcox.
The assistance available to farmers in those 25 counties includes FSA emergency loans. Farmers in eligible counties have 8 months to apply for emergency loans. The applications will be evaluated individually based on direct production losses.
