Bredesen Request for Federal Farm Assistance Granted for 39 Counties
Thursday, November 06, 2008 | 04:12am
Governor Seeks Assistance for Seven Additional Tennessee Counties
NASHVILLE - Governor Phil Bredesen today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 39 Tennessee counties as primary natural disaster areas for agriculture due to extreme drought.
“I’m pleased that USDA has acted on my request,” said Bredesen. “This designation will be critical in getting much needed federal farm assistance in the hands of Tennessee farmers, who can begin the process of recovering from this year’s drought and planning for next year.”
Bredesen made the request in separate letters to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer on September 22 and October 8. The counties are:
Anderson, Benton, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Cannon, Carroll, Claiborne, Coffee, Fentress, Franklin, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Henry, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Lauderdale, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Polk, Rhea, Scott, Smith, Unicoi, Union, Warren, Washington, Weakley and Wilson.
The designation makes farmers in these and adjoining counties eligible to apply for assistance through their local USDA Farm Service Agency. Farmers are eligible to be considered for emergency loans, livestock assistance and supplemental farm payments as provided by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.
Bredesen this week also requested a secretarial disaster designation for seven additional counties including Carter, Cumberland, DeKalb, Loudon, Roane, Sullivan and Trousdale.
Farmers in these areas have suffered crop losses for corn and soybeans ranging from 30 to 65 percent. Livestock producers are reporting low hay stocks going into the winter months due to parched pastures and significantly reduced hay yields this summer and fall.
For livestock producers needing to buy or looking to sell hay, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Tennessee Farm Bureau cooperatively manage the Tennessee Hay Directory. A listing of local and out-of-state sources of hay can be found at www.picktnproducts.org.
For a weekly report on crop conditions across the state, visit www.nass.usda.gov/tn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture makes this report available every Monday after 3 p.m. CST April through November.