WASHINGTON, D.C. (KRNV & Mynews4.com) -The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated five counties in California near Reno and seven counties in Nevada today as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the recent drought.
The California counties include Mono, Lassen, Alpine, Sierra and Plumas and the Nevada counties were identified as Washoe, Clark, Mineral, Esmeralda, Lyon, Nye and Douglas. Farmers and Ranchers in those counties qualify for natural disaster assistance and all qualified farm operators in the designated areas are 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.
Additional programs available to assist farmers and ranchers include 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.
