The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated three counties in Iowa as primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by excessive rainfall that occurred April 1 – Aug. 5, 2013.The counties are:

Allamakee Cerro Gordo Floyd

Our hearts go out to those Iowa farmers and ranchers affected by recent natural disasters,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “President Obama and I are committed to ensuring that agriculture remains a bright spot in our nation’s economy by sustaining the successes of America’s farmers, ranchers and rural communities through these difficult times. We’re also telling Iowa producers that USDA stands with you and your communities when severe weather and natural disasters threaten to disrupt your livelihood.”Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Iowa also qualify for natural disaster assistance because the county is contiguous.

The counties are:

Bremer Clayton Hancock Winnebago Butler Fayette Howard Winneshiek Chickasaw Franklin Mitchell

Minnesota

Houston

Wisconsin

Crawford Vernon

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Nov. 27, 2013, 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.

Source - http://www.newsroomamerica.com/