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Half Of US Counties Deemed Natural Disaster Areas
Just over half of the counties in the U.S. are now labeled "natural disaster areas" after the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday added 218 counties in 12 states to the list.
With drought drying up food crops and animal feedstock, the USDA also said it was allowing haying and grazing on 3.8 million protected acres, many of them wetlands, and that it had received assurances from insurers that they would forgo interest payments on unpaid farm loans for up to 30 days.
"The assistance announced today will help U.S. livestock producers dealing with climbing feed prices, critical shortages of hay and deteriorating pasturelands," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement announcing the moves.
Across 32 states, ranchers and farmers in 1,584 counties — 50.3 percent of the total — are now eligible for low-interest loans. Some 90 percent of those counties were listed due to drought conditions.
That's a new record and one that's been broken repeatedly in recent weeks as more counties have been added. The declarations first started on July 12.
