USDA Designates 150 Counties in Georgia as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

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USDA Designates 150 Counties in Georgia as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

09/08/2011 04:34 PM EDT

Farm Service Agency
Public Affairs Staff
1400 Independence Ave SW
Stop 0506, Room 3624-South
Washington, D.C. 20250-0506

Release No. 0115.11

USDA Designates 150 Counties in Georgia as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2011 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 150 counties in Georgia as primary natural disaster areas due to an ongoing drought and excessive heat that has damaged thousands of acres of crops.

“Many producers have lost their crops and ultimately their livelihood due to the devastation caused by the drought,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “President Obama and I want these farmers and ranchers to know that we are here for them and we will support them through the recovery process and help them once again become productive suppliers of food, fiber and fuel that keep America prospering. This designation will provide that support.”

The drought — which began April 15, 2011, and continues — caused 30 percent or more loss of forage crops, pasture, grain crops, cotton, peanuts and tobacco in the following counties:

Appling	Coffee	Gordon	McDuffie	Sumter
Atkinson	Colquitt	Grady	McIntosh	Taliaferro
Bacon	Columbia	Gwinnett	Meriwether	Tattnall
Baker	Cook	Habersham	Miller	Taylor
Banks	Coweta	Hall	Mitchell	Telfair
Barrow	Crawford	Hancock	Monroe	Terrell
Bartow	Crisp	Haralson	Montgomery	Thomas
Ben Hill	Dade	Harris	Morgan	Tift
Berrien	Dawson	Hart	Murray	Toombs
Bibb	De Kalb	Heard	Oconee	Towns
Bleckley	Decatur	Henry	Oglethorpe	Treutlen
Brantley	Dodge	Houston	Paulding	Troup
Brooks	Dooly	Irwin	Peach	Turner
Bryan	Dougherty	Jackson	Pickens	Twiggs
Bulloch	Douglas	Jeff Davis	Pierce	Union
Burke	Early	Jefferson	Pike	Upson
Butts	Echols	Jenkins	Polk	Walker
Calhoun	Effingham	Johnson	Pulaski	Walton
Camden	Elbert	Lamar	Putnam	Ware
Candler	Emanuel	Lanier	Quitman	Warren
Carroll	Evans	Laurens	Rabun	Washington
Catoosa	Fannin	Lee	Randolph	Wayne
Charlton	Fayette	Liberty	Richmond	Webster
Chatham	Floyd	Lincoln	Rockdale	Wheeler
Chattooga	Forsyth	Long	Schley	White
Cherokee	Franklin	Lowndes	Screven	Whitfield
Clarke	Fulton	Lumpkin	Seminole	Wilcox
Clay	Gilmer	Macon	Spalding	Wilkes
Clinch	Glascock	Madison	Stephens	Wilkinson
Cobb	Glynn	Marion	Stewart	Worth

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Georgia also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:

Baldwin	Clayton	Jasper	Muscogee	Talbot
Chattahoochee	Greene	Jones	Newton

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:

Alabama

Barbour	Cleburne	Houston	Randolph
Chambers	De Kalb	Jackson	Russell
Cherokee	Henry	Lee

Florida

Baker	Hamilton	Leon
Columbia	Jackson	Madison
Gadsden	Jefferson	Nassau

North Carolina

Cherokee

Clay

Jackson

Macon

South Carolina

Abbeville	Allendale	Barnwell	Hampton	McCormick
Aiken	Anderson	Edgefield	Jasper	Oconee

Tennessee

Bradley

Hamilton

Marion

Polk

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Sept. 7, 2011, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s 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 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, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

USDA also has made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008; 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.

FSA news releases are available on FSA’s website at www.fsa.usda.gov via the “News and Events” link.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

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