May 23, 2013
COLQUITT, GA—Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack recently announced that 23 counties in Georgia have been named primary or contiguous natural disaster areas due to a recent drought. In accordance with the designation, farm operators in primary counties and contiguous counties are now eligible to be considered for emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for the next eight months.
Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Colquitt, Effingham, Jenkins, Miller, Screven, and Seminole counties have been designated as primary affected counties.
Baker, Brooks, Burke, Candler, Cook, Decatur, Early, Emanuel, Evans, Liberty, Mitchell, Thomas, Tift, and Worth counties have been designated contiguous disaster counties.
A number of other counties in Georgia already have been designated as natural disaster counties for the current crop year. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, these counties have suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of (1) D2 (Drought-Severe) for eight or more consecutive weeks; or (2) D3 (Drought-Extreme) or D4 (Drought-Exceptional).
