Washington, DC—Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet announced today that Colorado farmers and ranchers in Baca County are eligible for natural disaster assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The announcement comes on the heels of the USDA’s designation yesterday of five Colorado counties, including Baca County, as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by drought and related disasters, including wildfires and high winds that began January 1, 2011.
“It’s important that Colorado producers have a measure of stability when unforeseen factors affect production, especially during these difficult economic times,” Bennet said. “I encourage all eligible producers to take advantage of this assistance from the USDA.”
All qualified farm operators in Baca, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson and Prowers counties, are eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
USDA also has made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Program (SURE), which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008; the Emergency Conservation Program; Federal Crop Insurance; and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.