Farm Service Agency
Public Affairs Staff
1400 Independence Ave SW
Stop 0506, Room 3624-South
Washington, D.C. 20250-0506

 
Release No. 1444.09

 

 
Kent Politsch (202) 720-7163

 
USDA Designates Madera County in California as Primary Natural Disaster Area
Decision Allows Farmers and Ranchers to Apply for USDA Assistance

 
WASHINGTON, May 26, 2009 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Madera County in California as a primary natural disaster area because of losses caused by a freeze that occurred during the period of March 9-11, 2009.

 
"President Obama and I understand the freeze caused severe damage to the area and serious harm to the farms in California and we want to help, " said Secretary Tom Vilsack. "This action will provide help to hundreds of farmers who suffered losses to their almond crops. "

 
Farm operators in the following counties in California also qualify for natural disaster benefits because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

 
Fresno
Mariposa
Merced
Mono
Tuolumne

 
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas May 19, 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 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; 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.