In a letter to Governor Abbott on August 21 of this month, the Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, Thomas J. Vilsack, said he is designating 25 Texas counties as primary natural disaster areas due to recent drought.
The letter states “A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have 8months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans. FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator.”
Local FSA offices can provide affected farmers with further information.
Primary Counties include Walker, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Trinity and Polk Counties.
Contiguous Counties include Grimes, Houston, and Madison.
