Beech Tree News Network

Lexington, KY- July 13, 2012 - USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) State Executive Director John W. McCauley said that 32 counties in Kentucky have received a Secretarial Disaster Designation due to the on-going drought. These counties are eligible for FSA loans and programs to assist with recovery.

The primary Kentucky counties are: Ballard, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Carlisle, Christian, Crittenden, Daviess, Fulton, Graves, Hancock, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, McCracken, McLean, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Todd, Trigg, Union, and Webster.

The following Kentucky counties are eligible because they are contiguous: Breckinridge, Edmonson, Grayson, Meade, Simpson, and Warren.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on July 12, 2012, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans at 2.99% 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.

McCauley encourages all farmers and ranchers to contact their crop insurance companies and local USDA Farm Service Agency Service Centers, as applicable, to report damages to crops or livestock loss. In addition, he also reminds livestock producers to keep thorough records of losses, including additional expenses for such things as food purchased due to lost supplies.

More information about federal crop insurance may be found at www.rma.usda.gov. Additional resources to help farmers and ranchers deal with the drought may be found at http://www.usda.gov/disaster.