USDA Designates 8 Counties in New York as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 16, 2011 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 8 counties in New York as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by excessive rain, flash flooding, high winds, lightning and cooler than normal temperatures that occurred March 1 - June 1, 2011.

"New York producers can continue to count on USDA to provide emergency assistance during difficult times," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "America's farmers and rural communities are vitally important to our nation's economy, producing the food, feed, fiber and fuel that continue to help us grow and out-compete the rest of the world. President Obama and I are committed to use the resources at our disposal to reduce the impact of this disaster on New York producers and help to get those affected back on their feet."

The New York counties are:

Allegany             Cattaraugus     Clinton            Cortland          Ontario
Tompkins           Wayne             Yates

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

Broome           Chemung         Essex               Madison          Schuyler          Tioga
Cayuga            Chenango        Franklin           Monroe            Seneca             Wyoming
Chautauqua     Erie                  Livingston       Onondaga       Steuben

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

Pennsylvania

McKean          Potter Warren

Vermont

Chittenden      Grand Isle

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Aug. 16, 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.