USDA Expands Disaster Assistance to Gulf Coast Farmers

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns has announced that more than $170 million in emergency assistance will be available to farmers who suffered losses as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

In addition, the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation has revised its Marketing Assistance Loan Program in response to the hurricane. The changes will allow producers to secure loans for on-farm grain storage on the ground in addition to gain bins and other normally approved structures.

Producers in eight designated Alabama counties also can qualify for some of the $855,000 in the USDA’s Emergency Conservation Program funds earmarked for the state to repair storm damage to their land. Qualified producers can receive assistance up to 75 percent of the cost to undertake approved emergency conservation practices such as debris removal and restoration of fences and conservation structures.

Counties include Baldwin, Choctaw, Clark, Greene, Marengo, Mobile, Sumter and Washington.

Posted by Jim Langcuster at September 8, 2005 09:44 AM | TrackBack