July 12, 2012
Harkin Welcomes USDA Disaster Declaration for Nine Iowa Counties
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today issued the following statement after learning that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack had issued a disaster declaration to assist Iowa farmers whose crops were impacted by the freezing conditions in early April. Harkin, who wrote Secretary Vilsack last month, is a senior member and former chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.
“This designation will make farmers eligible to apply for lost income recovery, low-interest loans, and other disaster assistance through the USDA Farm Service Agency,” said Harkin. “This assistance will help eligible Iowa farmers keep their operations running, ensuring that they can continue to produce a variety of field, forage, and horticultural crops such as sweet corn, and other fresh fruit and produce for families and communities. I welcome this designation and I thank Secretary Vilsack for expediting this request.”
The agricultural disaster designations issued today benefits producers in the counties of Audubon, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Johnson and Lee. Benefits are also available for the contiguous counties of Adair, Allamakee, Benton, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Guthrie, Henry, Howard, Iowa, Jones, Linn, Louisa, Mitchell, Monona, Muscatine, Pottawattamie, Shelby, Van Buren, Washington, Webster and Winneshiek.
Producers in both primary and contiguous counties should contact their local FSA offices for additional information.