Maine counties deemed primary natural disaster areas
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated five counties in Maine as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by two separate disaster conditions.
Aroostook, Hancock, Penobscot and Washington counties were designated primary natural disaster areas as a result of excessive rain, hail, high winds, below normal temperatures, dry weather and excessive heat that occurred from May 3-Sept. 20.
“Our farmers and ranchers need this emergency assistance to recover losses caused by multiple disaster conditions that recently ripped through the state,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a press release. “President Obama and I are committed to reducing the impact of this disaster for Maine producers and will commit all available resources to help in the aftermath of this disaster.”
Farmers and ranchers in Knox, Piscataquis, Somerset and Waldo counties also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
Oxford County was designated a primary natural disaster area as a result of excessive rain, flash flooding, flooding and high winds associated with and following Hurricane Irene that occurred from Aug. 28-Sept. 23.
Farmers and ranchers in Androscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin and York counties also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Producers in Carroll and Coos counties in New Hampshire also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Dec. 13 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.
U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins (both R-Maine) and Congressman Mike Michaud (D-Maine) praised USDA’s decision to designate the counties as natural disaster areas.
“We applaud the Department of Agriculture’s decision to recognize the impact of this past year’s damaging weather on farmers throughout our state,” the senators said in a press release. “The farming industry is critical to the vitality of Maine’s economy and we are pleased to learn that our farmers are eligible for the disaster relief assistance that will help them recover.”
“Farmers across our state have experienced several natural disasters this year,” said Michaud. “These programs provide important assistance, and I encourage Maine farmers to learn more about how these programs can help them.”
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 disaster.fsa.usda.gov.
Vilsack also reminds producers that the department’s authority to operate the five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill expired Sept. 30. This includes SURE, the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP), the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP), the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP), and the Tree Assistance Program (TAP). Production losses in the counties listed above are covered because the event triggering the loss occurred prior to the expiration of these programs; however, production losses due to disasters occurring after Sept. 30 are not eligible for disaster program coverage.
