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Farmers Will Get Emergency Aid

Ste. Genevieve is one of 55 Missouri counties that have been designated as primary natural disaster areas, because of losses caused by excessive rainfall, flash flooding, flooding and high winds that occurred between February 1 and July 15 of this year.

The major damage has been to corn, soybeans and wheat.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement last week. The official designation was made August 20.

“President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to corn, soybeans and wheat, and we want to help,” Vilsack said. “This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses.”
The action makes all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency 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 says it 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.

Nearby Perry County, St. Francois County, and Madison County are included in the designation, which also applies to some farmers and ranchers in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska and Tennessee.