WASHINGTON – The USDA has designated 25 counties in New York as primary agricultural disaster areas due to excessive rain, freezing and other weather-related disasters.
The 25 counties that are designated as primary disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a variety of extreme weather conditions are: Allegany, Niagara, Tioga, Broome, Ontario and Tompkins.
Others include: Cattaraugus, Orange, Ulster, Cayuga, Ostego, Wayne, Clinton, Putnam, Westchester, Dutchess, Rensselaer, Wyoming, Franklin, Schuyler,
Yates, Jefferson, Seneca, Madison and Steuben counties are also designated as primary disaster areas.
Emergency loans. In addition to these primary counties, the following counties are also eligible for emergency loans because they are contiguous: Albany, Genesee, Orleans, Bronx, Greene, Oswego, Chautauqua, Hamilton, Rockland, Chemung, Herkimer, Saratoga, Chenango and Lewis.
Others include: Schenectady, Columbia, Livingston, Schoharie, Cortland, Monroe, St. Lawrence, Delaware, Montgomery, Sullivan, Erie, Nassau, Washington, Essex and Oneida.
Interested farmers should contact their local Farm Service Agency Service Centers for further information.
Related link: www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/disaster/assistance1.htm.