USDA declares Ind. drought a natural disaster

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 36 counties in Indiana as primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by extreme drought.
 
Julia Wickard, state executive director of the USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Indiana, made the announcement Thursday.

Farm operators in 19 counties, including Monroe County, qualify for natural disaster assistance, making all qualified farm operators in the county eligible for low-interest emergency loans from FSA, as long as eligibility requirements are met.

Indiana’s current conditions are the worst since the drought of 1988, according to U.S. Drought Monitor statistics, with 78 counties issued a severe drought or worse designation. Northern Monroe County has been issued an extreme drought
designation.

Areas in the Northeast and Southwest are the hardest hit and
considered severe.  

Indiana is the worst hit of the primary corn and soybean states, according to a press release by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. With the drought combined with days of heat stress, crops are quickly showing signs of failure.
 
“The Summer of 2012 will not be long forgotten by those producers and their families that were negatively impacted by severe dry weather,” Wickard said in a press release. “USDA is here to assist.”

Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from Thursday to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. Applications are considered on a case by case basis, taking into account extent of loss, available security and repayment ability.

— Mark Keierleber