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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a disaster designation for portions of Alabama – including Pike County – after a request from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey due to a drop in temperature in areas of the state during March.

The disaster designation will give area farmers access to financial assistance in the form of emergency low-interest loans from the Farm Service Agency to help in recovery from the freeze. Due to the freeze that occurred in March, reported losses in blueberry, peaches, strawberry and carrot production were cited by Ivey in her request for a disaster designation . The areas impacted were Pike, Baldwin, Henry, Elmore, Houston, Montgomery, Autauga, Barbour, Conecuch, Geneva, Bullock, Covington, Crenshaw and Dale Counties.

“Alabama’s farmers are vital to Alabamians and Americans alike,” Ivey said. “They put food on our tables and are a center point of our economy. This much needed disaster designation will help these hardworking men and women recover from lost crops resulting from an unpredictable change of temperature. I know this will help a good deal, and I am certainly proud to have the backs of our farms during this recovery process and always.”