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Farm Service Agency Public Affairs Staff 1400 Independence Ave SW Stop 0506, Room 3624-South Washington, D.C. 20250-0506 Release No. 1406.09 Latawnya Dia (202) 720-7962 USDA Designates Two Counties in California as Primary Natural Disaster Areas Decision Allows Farmers and Ranchers to Apply for USDA Assistance WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Plumas and Sierra counties in California as primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought that occurred during the period of Jan. 1, 2008, and continuing. Farm operators in Butte, Lassen, Nevada, Shasta, Tehama and Yuba counties in California also qualify for natural disaster benefits because their counties are contiguous. Farm operators in Washoe County in the adjacent state of Nevada also qualify for natural disaster benefits because their county is contiguous. All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Dec. 31, 2008, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas listed above 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 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; 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. # |