South Carolina: 35 Counties Designated Natural Disaster Areas

USDA has designated 35 counties in South Carolina as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive heat and drought that occurred from May 1, 2015, and continues. Those counties are:

Aiken	Chester	Edgefield	Laurens	Pickens
Allendale	Chesterfield	Florence	Lee	Richland
Bamberg	Clarendon	Georgetown	Lexington	Saluda
Barnwell	Colleton	Greenville	Marion	Spartanburg
Berkeley	Darlington	Horry	Marlboro	Sumter
Calhoun	Dillon	Kershaw	Newberry	Williamsburg
Cherokee	Dorchester	Lancaster	Orangeburg	York

“Our hearts go out to those South Carolina 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 South Carolina 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 South Carolina also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

Abbeville	Fairfield	McCormick
Anderson	Greenwood	Oconee
Beaufort	Hampton	Union
Charleston

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Georgia and North Carolina also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:

Georgia
Burke, Columbia, Richmond and Screven

North Carolina

Anson	Gaston	Richmond	Transylvania
Brunswick	Henderson	Robeson	Union
Cleveland	Mecklenburg	Rutherford
Columbus	Polk	Scotland

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Sep. 9, 2015, 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.

Additional programs available to assist farmers and ranchers include the Emergency Conservation Program, The Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program, and the Tree Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.