Farm Service Agency

Public Affairs Staff

1400 Independence Ave SW

Stop 0506, Room 3624-South

Washington, D.C. 20250-0506

Release No. 0144.10

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2010 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Lassen County in California as a natural disaster area due to losses caused by drought that began Jan. 1, 2010 and continues.

“President Obama and I understand these conditions caused damage to pasture and forage crops, and we want to help” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses.”

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in California qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:

Modoc Plumas Shasta Sierra

Farmers and ranchers in the following county in Nevada qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:

Washoe

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Dec. 27, 2010, 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 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.

FSA news releases are available on FSA's Web site at http://www.fsa.usda.gov via the "Newsroom" link.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).