Gov. Gregoire announces federal assistance for 15 Washington counties

For Immediate Release: February 1, 2012

OLYMPIA � Gov. Chris Gregoire announced 15 Washington counties have been designated by the United States Department of Agriculture as primary agricultural natural disaster areas as a result of cold and wet weather conditions last spring and summer.

�Last year�s cold temperatures caused financial hardship for many of our farmers,� Gregoire said. �Many suffered severe production delays and crops losses � which impacts their bottom line, and slows our economic recovery. This designation ensures our farmers get the federal financial assistance they deserve, and gets families and communities back on their feet.�

Last spring, Gregoire asked U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to determine whether the entire state of Washington should be declared as a farm disaster area due to weather-related productions delays and crop losses.

USDA determined that in 15 Washington counties, at least one producer reported weather-related damage that destroyed more than 30 percent of the farm�s crop. USDA designated Clallam, Clark, Franklin, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Klickitat, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Stevens, Wahkiakum, Whatcom, and Yakima counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in the 20 neighboring counties may also be eligible for disaster assistance.

Approval of the USDA disaster declaration permits farmers in these counties to apply for federal disaster assistance payments through several programs administered by USDA�s Farm Service Agency. Many federal agricultural disaster and crop insurance programs require farmers to enroll prior to experiencing weather-related losses. Farmers may also be eligible for emergency low-interest loans from USDA to cover production and farm property losses.

Producers who experienced crop damage are encouraged to report that information to the nearest local USDA FSA office as soon as possible. USDA will determine whether disaster assistance is warranted, as well as administer all relevant disaster relief programs.

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