NEWS
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Office of Communications News Room 460-A
Washington, DC 20250-1300
Internet: News@usda.gov   Phone: 202-720-9035
World Wide Web Home Page: http://www.usda.gov

Release No 0005.03

                             Alisa Harrison (202) 720-4623
                                Dann Stuart (202) 690-0474

VENEMAN DESIGNATES COUNTIES IN CONNECTICUT, IDAHO, KANSAS,
OKLAHOMA, WASHINGTON AND TEXAS AS AGRICULTURE DISASTER
                      AREAS
Decision Allows Farmers and Ranchers to Receive USDA
                   Assistance

      WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2002 -- Agriculture Secretary
Ann M. Veneman designated all the counties in Connecticut
and several counties in Idaho, Kansas, Oklahoma,
Washington and Texas as primary agricultural disaster
areas due to drought.

      "This designation will allow producers to receive
assistance to help them recover from extreme weather
conditions," said Veneman.  "USDA continues to use all
available programs to assist farmers and ranchers."

      The eight Idaho counties designated as primary
disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by drought
are Bear Lake, Butte, Custer, Franklin, Lemhi, Oneida,
Payette and Power.  Also eligible for assistance because
they are contiguous are Cassia and Elmore Counties. (See
the Washington state paragraph below for reference to
additional  Idaho counties.)

      The two Kansas counties designated as primary
disaster areas due to damages and losses for hail, high
winds and flooding are Meade and Rice.  Also eligible for
assistance because they are contiguous are Barton, Clark,
Ellsworth, Ford, Gray, Haskell, McPherson, Reno, Seward
and Stafford Counties.

      The 16 Oklahoma counties designated as primary
disaster areas due to drought are:

   Choctaw      Latimer      Okfuskee      Pottawatomie
   Creek        Le Flore     Okmulgee      Pushmataha
   Haskell      McCurtain    Ottawa        Rogers
   Hughes       McIntosh     Pittsburg     Tulsa

      And eligible for assistance are the contiguous
Oklahoma counties of: 

   Atoka        Lincoln      Payne         Wagoner
   Bryan        Mayes        Pontotoc      Washington
   Coal         Muskogee     Seminole
   Delaware     Pawnee       Sequoyah

      Spokane and Whitman Counties in Washington state are
designated as primary natural disaster areas for freezing
weather that occurred earlier this spring. Also designated
because they contiguous are the Washington counties of
Adams, Asotin, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend
Oreille and Stevens. The Idaho counties of Benewah, Bonner
and Kootenai are designated as disaster areas because they
are contiguous to Spokane County.

      Runnels County in Texas is also designated as an
agricultural primary disaster area for drought.

      These designations make all qualified farm operators
eligible for low-interest emergency (EM) loans from the
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
the loans to help cover part of their actual losses.  FSA
will consider each loan application on its own merits,
taking into account the extent of losses, security
available and repayment ability.  FSA has a variety of
programs available, in addition to the emergency loan
program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

      Over the last year, USDA has declared several other
states, particularly in the western plains and mountain
states, as agricultural disaster areas.  USDA has also
made other programs available to assist farmers and
ranchers, including the Emergency Conservation Program,
Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program. 

      Interested farmers may contact their local FSA
Service Centers for further information on eligibility
requirements and application procedures for these and
other programs.  Additional information is also available
online at:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/disaster/assistance1.htm.

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