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Tanya Brown 202-690-4585 Tanya.brown@wdc.usda.gov Release 0055.12
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2012—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced disaster designations for various New York counties that have experienced losses caused by frosts, freezes, high winds, hail, snow, and unseasonably warm temperatures and excessive heat.
“Our hearts go out to the farmers and growers who are dealing with the loss of crops due to recent severe weather,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “President Obama and I are committed to using the resources at our disposal to reduce the impact of these disasters on New York producers and to help get those affected back on their feet.”
In the first announcement, USDA has designated 28 counties in New York as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by frosts and freezes that began March 1.
The counties are:
Albany | Erie | Onondaga | Saratoga |
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Broome | Fulton | Ontario | Schoharie |
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Cattaraugus | Greene | Orange | Schuyler |
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Cayuga | Madison | Orleans | Seneca |
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Chautauqua | Monroe | Oswego | Ulster |
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Columbia | Montgomery | Rensselaer | Washington |
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Dutchess | Niagara | Rockland | Yates |
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Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in New York also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Allegany | Genesee | Oneida | Tioga |
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Chemung | Hamilton | Otsego | Tompkins |
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Chenango | Herkimer | Putnam | Warren |
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Cortland | Jefferson | Schenectady | Wayne |
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Delaware | Lewis | Steuben | Wyoming |
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Essex | Livingston | Sullivan | |
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Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vermont also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Connecticut
Massachusetts Berkshire
New Jersey
Pennsylvania Erie | Pike | Warren |
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McKean | Susquehanna | Wayne |
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Vermont
In the second announcement, USDA has designated two counties in New York as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by frosts and freezes, high winds and hail that occurred March 26 – April 30, 2012.
The counties are: Orange Rockland
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in New York also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Dutchess Putnam Sullivan Ulster
Farmers and ranchers in counties in New Jersey and Pennsylvania also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
New Jersey Bergen Passaic Sussex
Pennsylvania Pike
In the third announcement, USDA has designated 3 counties in New York as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by frosts and freezes unseasonably warm temperatures and excessive heat that occurred March 1-April 30.
The counties are: Allegany Wayne Wyoming
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in New York also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Cattaraugus Cayuga Erie Genesee Livingston Monroe Ontario Seneca Steuben
Farmers and ranchers in counties in Pennsylvania also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
Pennsylvania McKean Potter
In the fourth and final announcement, USDA has designated Tompkins County in New York as a primary natural disaster area due to losses caused by excessive snow and freezes that occurred April 1 – April 30, 2012.
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in New York also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Cayuga Cortland Seneca Chemung Schuyler Tioga
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas June 5, 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 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 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 and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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