USDA designates five coastal counties as disaster areas

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Pamlico County as a primary natural disaster area because of damages and losses caused by excessive rain and winds that occurred when Hurricane Arthur hit the North Carolina coast on July 3.

Farmers and ranchers in Beaufort, Carteret, Craven and Hyde counties also qualify for assistance because their counties are contiguous.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Sept. 10, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency, 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.

More programs available to assist farmers and ranchers include the Emergency Conservation Program, the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program, and the Tree Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Center for information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.

More information is online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.