State Requests Agricultural Disaster Assistance
(image courtesy WTHR-TV)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe state of Indiana is requesting a disaster designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 88 counties. The request is due to losses caused by flooding and excessive rain this season.
The designation would allow emergency low-interest loans for farmers and counties affected.
The request was made in a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and signed by Gov. Holcomb, Lieutenant Gov. Suzanne Crouch and Indiana Farm Service Agency Executive Director Steven Brown.
“Heavy and persistent rainfall has saturated fields across the state, hurting Indiana crops and our farmers,” Holcomb said in a news release. “As I continue to monitor this situation, Hoosier farmers can rest assured that we will keep a close eye on the long-term effects of these relentless rains.”
The counties included in the requested designation are:
- Adams
- Allen
- Bartholomew
- Blackford
- Boone
- Brown
- Carroll
- Cass
- Clark
- Clay
- Clinton
- Crawford
- Daviess
- Dearborn
- Decatur
- DeKalb
- Delaware
- Dubois
- Elkhart
- Fayette
- Floyd
- Fountain
- Franklin
- Fulton
- Gibson
- Grant
- Greene
- Hamilton
- Hancock
- Harrison
- Hendricks
- Henry
- Howard
- Huntington
- Jackson
- Jasper
- Jay
- Jefferson
- Jennings
- Johnson
- Knox
- Kosciusko
- LaGrange
- Lake
- LaPorte
- Lawrence
- Madison
- Marion
- Marshall
- Martin
- Miami
- Monroe
- Montgomery
- Morgan
- Newton
- Noble
- Ohio
- Orange
- Owen
- Parke
- Perry
- Pike
- Porter
- Posey
- Pulaski
- Putnam
- Randolph
- Ripley
- Saint Joseph
- Scott
- Spencer
- Starke
- Steuben
- Sullivan
- Switzerland
- Tippecanoe
- Tipton
- Union
- Vanderburgh
- Vermillion
- Vigo
- Wabash
- Warrick
- Washington
- Wayne
- Wells
- White
- Whitley
Indiana State Department of Agriculture Director Bruce Kettler released the following statement after the request was announced:
The reality is that this has been one of the toughest seasons on record for farmers in Indiana and across much of the Midwest. I commend Governor Holcomb and Indiana FSA Director Brown and his staff for recognizing the difficult situation farmers are facing and for working to make options available to them.