Release 0111.11

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2011 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated San Joaquin and Tehama counties in California as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by unseasonable and excessive rain that occurred May 1 – June 28, 2011.

“California producers can continue to count on USDA to provide emergency assistance during continued economic difficulties,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “President Obama and I are committed to reducing the impact of this disaster and will commit all available resources to help.”

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

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Sept. 2, 2011, 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 website at http://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).