Nebraska Counties Designated as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Jonathan Groveman (202) 720-4178 WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Buffalo County in Nebraska as a primary natural disaster area due to excessive rain, hail, high winds and flooding that occurred during the period June 6, 2009, and continuing. Farm operators in the counties listed below in Nebraska also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are: Adams, Dawson, Howard, Phelps, Custer, Hall, Kearney, and Sherman. In a second request, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Platte County in Nebraska as a primary natural disaster area due to a severe hail storm that occurred Aug. 9, 2009. Farm operators in the counties listed below in Nebraska also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are Boone, Colfax, Merrick, Polk, Butler, Madison, Nance, and Stanton. In a third request, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Franklin and Webster counties in Nebraska as primary natural disaster areas due to drought that occurred during the period of Jan. 1, 2009, and continuing. Farm operators in the counties listed below in Nebraska also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are: Adams, Harlan, Nuckolls, Clay, Kearney, and Phelps. Farm operators in Jewell, Phillips and Smith counties in the adjacent state of Kansas also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. "President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to these areas and serious harm to farms in Nebraska and we want to help," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses to corn, soybeans, wheat, pumpkins and other crops." All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Dec. 8, 2009, 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 variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity. USDA has also 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 Web site at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/ via the "News and Events" link. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272(voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).