Release No. 0015.12

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2012 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 45 counties in Michigan as natural disaster areas for three separate disaster conditions that occurred in February and May 2011.

The following 29 counties were designated primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by the combined effects of excessive rain, high winds, hail, freeze, frost, blizzard, tornadoes, flooding and lightning that occurred from Feb. 1, 2011, and continues. Those counties are:

“Michigan farmers have experienced several disaster conditions over a long period of time, which have caused major losses to a wide variety of crops and pasture,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Through this designation, President Obama and I will give producers in these counties some much needed federal disaster assistance for its agricultural industry.”

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Michigan also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Indiana and Ohio also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.

Elkhart, La Porte, St. Joseph and Steuben

Fulton, Lucas and Williams

Dickinson, Iron, Luce, Mackinac, Menominee and Montcalm counties in Michigan were designated as primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought and excessive heat that occurred from May 15, 2011, and continues.

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Michigan also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

Farmers and ranchers in Florence, Forest, Marinette and Vilas counties in Wisconsin also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.

Alger, Antrim, Delta, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Marquette, Otsego, Schoolcraft, Washtenaw and Wayne counties in Michigan were designated as primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by the combined effects of excessive rain, high winds, hail, freeze, frost, blizzard, tornadoes, flooding, lightning, drought and excessive heat that occurred from Feb. 1, 2011, and continues.

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Michigan also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Jan. 27, 2012, 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.

Secretary Vilsack also reminds producers that the department’s authority to operate the five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill expired on Sept. 30, 2011.This includes SURE; the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP); the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP); the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP); and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Production losses in the counties listed above are covered because the event triggering the loss occurred prior to the expiration of these programs; however, production losses due to disasters occurring after Sept. 30, 2011, are not eligible for disaster program coverage.

FSA news releases are available on FSA’s website at 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 Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).