HSC included in counties eligible for disaster assistance

A Presidential Disaster Declaration has made 10 Wyoming counties, including Hot Springs County, and three Montana counties eligible for disaster assistance. Park and Fremont counties and the Wind River Reservation within Fremont County were declared as primary natural disaster areas and the surrounding 11 counties as contiguous disaster areas due to severe storms and flooding that occurred June 22-27. Under this designation, eligible producers with operations in any primary or contiguous county can apply for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.

The additional Wyoming counties designated as contiguous disaster areas are Big Horn, Washakie, Natrona, Carbon, Sweetwater, Sublette and Teton. The Montana counties are Gallatin, Park and Carbon.

Emergency loans help producers recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding and other natural disasters or quarantine.

All counties listed were designated natural disaster areas on August 5, making all qualified farm and ranch operators in the designated areas eligible for FSA’s emergency (EM) loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers and ranchers 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.

Other FSA programs that can provide assistance, but do not require a disaster declaration, include Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree 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.

For more information about emergency loans and other safety-net programs please contact your local FSA office or visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov.