The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Chelan, Douglas and Okanogan counties in Washington as natural disaster areas due to the record low temperatures and freezing temperatures in October of 2009. The freezing temperatures severely damaged the apple and cherry crops.
"This action will provide assistance to hundreds of farmers who suffered significant production losses,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.
The following neighboring counties were designated natural disaster areas on June 15 and farmers and ranchers in those counties also qualify for natural disaster assistance: Ferry, King, Lincoln, Snohomish, Grant, Kittitas, Skagit and Whatcom.
Qualified farm operators in these designated counties are eligible for low interest emergency loans from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). Farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
The FSA and the USDA also have additional programs available to assist farmers and ranchers.
Interested farmers can 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 under "News and Events."
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