Pike declared agriculture disaster area

Staff

Published Thursday, June 29, 2000

Features Editor

Pike County is one of 64 Alabama counties covered in a declaration by Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman making farmers in four drought stricken states eligible for emergency low-interest loans.

On June 23,

Glickman declared parts of Alabama, Florida, Nebraska and New Mexico agricultural disaster areas due to the drought which is the worst to plague Alabama in 40 years.

Glickman's disaster declaration covers 64 of Alabama's 67 counties, 41 of Florida's 67 counties, 17 of Nebraska's 93 counties and 27 of New Mexico's 33 counties.

"This has been a devastating year for America's farmers and ranchers, following last year's drought and historically low prices," Glickman said. "USDA is responding quickly and in every way we can to help."

According to information released by the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Communications, the USDA is also allowing livestock grazing on some Conservation Reserve Program lands in areas experiencing serious drought conditions.

However, Randy Hale, district conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said that information has not officially trickled down to his office.

"Sometimes it takes quite a while for information to work down through all the channels," he said.

The prime emphasis of Glickman's declaration makes qualified family-sized farm operators in both primary and contiguous counties eligible for low-interest emergency USDA loans. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for the loans to help cover part of the actual losses.

Jim Novak, Auburn University agricultural economist, said the purpose of the low-interest loans is to help farmers survive during disaster situations.

"This is not free money," he said. "It's a loan made available to help farmers through difficult times."

There are also stipulations attached to the low-interest loans.

"A farmer cannot be eligible for commercial credit and must have suffered physical or production losses of 30 percent or more," Novak said. "The farmer must be able to repay the loan and it has to be paid back in from one to seven years.

This is not an automatic process."

USDA's Farm Service Agency will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available, repayment ability and other eligibility requirements. Pike County farmers will be notified when they may begin to apply for the emergency low-interest loans.

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