| DETROIT - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has made
37 Michigan counties - including Saginaw - eligible for emergency farm
loans because of losses from heavy rain, flash flooding, hail and high
winds last spring.
"Farmers in Michigan are experiencing tough times this year due to
severe storms and too much rain," Glickman said Wednesday. "USDA
emergency low-interest loans may help distressed producers survive a tough
season."
He named 14 counties primary disaster areas: Allegan, Berrien, Cass,
Huron, Isabella, Jackson, Lapeer, Lenawee, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair,
Tuscola, Washtenaw and Wayne.
Farmers in 23 adjoining counties also are eligible: Barry, Bay, Cal
houn, Clare, Eaton, Genesee, Gladwin, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Ingham,
Kalamazoo, Kent, Livingston, Mecosta, Midland, Monroe, Montcalm, Osceola,
Ottawa, Saginaw, Sanilac, St. Joseph and Van Buren.
Farmers in Indiana's Elkhart, La Porte and St. Joseph counties and
Ohio's Fulton and Lucas counties also are eligible, the government said.
Qualified farm operators are eligible for low-interest emergency loans
from the USDA's Farm Service Agency. Farmers in eligible counties have
until July 1 to apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual
losses.
In addition to the emergency loan program, the Farm Service Agency has
other programs available to help eligible farmers recover from weather
damage. |