Howard and Miami counties have been declared primary natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after an historically wet spring delayed crop planting around Indiana.

The designation makes farmers eligible for federal assistance through the Farm Service Agency, including access to low-interest emergency loans.

Those loans can be used to restore or replace essential property, pay all or part of production costs associated with the disaster year, pay essential family living expenses, reorganize the farming operation and refinance certain debts.

Seventy-four Indiana counties have now been designated as primary natural disaster areas.

USDA deferred its decision on the remaining 18 counties, including Tipton County. However, since those counties border one or more of the primary disaster areas, they are considered contiguous disaster counties and qualify for the same assistance.

A USDA disaster designation can be requested when at least 30 percent of one crop is damaged or lost in a county. Of the state’s 92 counties, 88 counties reported data meeting that threshold.

In Howard and Miami counties, hay was the crop which allowed the county to request the disaster designation request.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb encouraged farmers impacted by a dismal planting season to take advantage of the federal assistance.

“As a result of this designation, farmers in all 92 counties are now eligible for assistance, and I encourage those impacted to work with their local Farm Service Agency office,” he said in a release.

Local farmers can borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses to a maximum amount of $500,000, according to USDA. In addition to emergency loans, farmers with existing FSA loans, who are unable to make their payments, may be eligible to have certain payments deferred.

Bruce Kettler, Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director, said life-long farmers around the state have all said this has been one of the toughest seasons on record, and the federal assistance will come in handy.

“We’re not in the clear yet,” he said. “While we know this isn’t a cure-all solution, this assistance is welcome news and will help those severely impacted.”
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