Jefferson County Farmers Could Get Federal Disaster Loans

JEFFERSON CITY–Gov. Jay Nixon asked Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to declare Jefferson County and 100 more counties in Missouri as primary disaster areas.

The designation allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) help farmers in those counties who lost crops and property due to this summer’s excessive heat and severe drought.

The governor’s request is based on damage assessments, conducted by the FSA last month, the governor’s office said in a news release.

“The hot weather and lack of rain has caused reduced crop yields, scorched pastures, and dry ponds across much of Missouri,” Gov. Nixon said in a news release. “A disaster declaration from the USDA would bring in greatly needed assistance for our farmers, who are facing lost income because of these conditions.”

Jefferson County may qualify as a primary disaster county because it lost at least 30 percent of its estimated yield of a single crop, or because individual farmers had production losses of greater than 30 percent.

Eligible Jefferson County farmers in a primary disaster area could receive FSA emergency loans from the federal Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program. Farmers must apply for assistance from the FSA.

Farmers in counties next to primary disaster areas could be eligible for FSA programs.