WASHINGTON– The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 24 Colorado counties as primary natural disaster areas.
The following counties in Colorado were designated as primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought that occurred during the period of Jan. 1, 2008, and continuing. Those counties are: Adams, Arapahoe, Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Douglas, El Paso, Elbert, Huerfano, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Otero, Park, Prowers, Pueblo, Teller, Washington and Weld.
Farm operators in the following counties in Colorado listed below also qualify for natural disaster benefits because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are: Alamosa, Boulder, Broomfield, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Costilla, Custer, Denver, Fremont, Jefferson, Lake, Larimer, Morgan, Phillips, Saguache, Sedgwick, Summit and Yuma.
Farm operators in the counties listed below in the adjacent states of Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming also qualify for natural disaster benefits because their counties and city are contiguous.
Kansas: Cheyenne, Greeley, Hamilton, Morton, Sherman, Stanton and Wallace
• Nebraska: Cheyenne and Kimball
• New Mexico: Colfax and Union
• Oklahoma: Cimarron
• Wyoming: Laramie
• Delta, Fremont, Otero and Pueblo counties in Colorado were designated primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by freezes that occurred from April 25, 2008, through May 11, 2008.
Farm operators in the following counties in Colorado listed below also qualify for natural disaster benefits because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are: Bent, Chaffee, Crowley, Custer, El Paso, Gunnison, Huerfano, Kiowa, Las Animas, Lincoln, Mesa, Montrose, Park, Saguache and Teller.
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas Sept. 10, 2008, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas 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. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.
