In response to a request from Hollis Baker, Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) acting State Executive Director in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 14 counties in Pennsylvania as a primary natural disaster area due to losses caused by a drought that occurred from May 1, 2016, through Dec. 10, 2016. Those counties are:
| Adams | Butler | Lawrence | Schuylkill |
| Allegheny | Cumberland | Mercer | Snyder |
| Beaver | Franklin | Northampton | Union |
| Bucks | Fulton |
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Pennsylvania also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
| Armstrong | Columbia | Luzerne | Perry |
| Bedford | Crawford | Lycoming | Philadelphia |
| Berks | Dauphin | Mifflin | Venango |
| Carbon | Huntingdon | Monroe | Washington |
| Centre | Juniata | Montgomery | Westmoreland |
| Clarion | Lebanon | Northumberland | York |
| Clinton | Lehigh |
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio and West Virginia also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Maryland
Allegany, Carroll, Frederick and Washington
New Jersey
Burlington, Hunterdon, Mercer and Warren
Ohio
Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull
West Virginia
Hancock
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on April 5, 2017, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for FSA’s low interest emergency (EM) loans, 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.
Other FSA programs that can provide assistance, but do not require a disaster declaration, include Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; 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.
