Mississippi: 10 Counties Designated Natural Disaster Areas

USDA has designated 10 counties in Mississippi as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:

Attala	Claiborne	Holmes	Leflore	Sunflower
Carroll	Copiah	Lawrence	Lincoln	Washington

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

Amite	Grenada	Jefferson Davis	Neshoba	Tallahatchie
Bolivar	Hinds	Leake	Pike	Walthall
Choctaw	Humphreys	Madison	Rankin	Warren
Coahoma	Issaquena	Marion	Sharkey	Winston
Franklin	Jefferson	Montgomery	Simpson	Yazoo

Farmers and ranchers in Chicot County in Arkansas and Tensas Parish in Louisiana also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their county and parish are contiguous.

All counties and parishes listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Oct. 14, 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 and parishes 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.