Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that four counties in New York State have been designated as a primary natural disaster area by the United States Department of Agriculture due to damage caused by a tornado and excessive rain in July. This designation means that impacted farmers in Clinton, Franklin, Lewis, and Onondaga County may be eligible for assistance, including emergency loans, from the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency.

“As climate change continues to drive more frequent and extreme weather events in our state, New Yorkers faced unprecedented levels of rain in July that flooded our communities and devastated crop land,” Governor Hochul said. “This designation will help ensure New York farmers significantly impacted by this summer’s severe weather have access to the resources they need to help rebuild and recover.”

A disaster declaration is based on reporting of crop loss to the federal Farm Service Agency (FSA). The United States Department of Agriculture declared four counties in New York as primary natural disaster areas and an additional 10 counties as contiguous disaster counties. Farmers in the following counties who were impacted by the severe weather event may be considered for FSA emergency loans, provided eligibility requirements are met.

Primary Counties

Clinton

Franklin

Lewis

Onondaga

Contiguous Counties

Cayuga

Cortland

Essex

Hamilton

Herkimer

Jefferson

Madison

Oneida

Oswego

St. Lawrence

Farmers will have eight months to apply for emergency loans and can do so with their local FSA office.

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “This past July was one of the wettest on record in some areas of our state, which was devasting for our farmers who experienced crop losses as a result. The extreme weather events we have been seeing as a result of climate change are causing a significant amount of stress for our agricultural industry—from the May frost event in the Finger Lakes to the tornado and excessive rain across the North Country and Central New York region in July. We encourage our farms to take advantage of the emergency loans available and to continue to report losses to lessen the impacts of these damaging weather events.”

Today’s announcement comes after the U.S. Small Business Administration made federal assistance available to New Yorkers in Clinton County who were impacted by heavy rains and flooding in July 2023. Residents and businesses in Clinton County are now eligible to apply for low-interest loans to aid in their recovery from this event thanks to a new SBA program that offers additional financial assistance to those in rural areas impacted by disasters. For the first time, New York obtained this declaration under the federal Disaster Assistance for Rural Communities program, which was signed into law this past June.

Source - https://www.thedailyreview.com