County farmers can receive assistance

Sweetwater County farmers who have suffered from the drought can now file for assistance.

According to a press release from the United States Department of Agriculture, Sweetwater County has been designated as a primary natural disaster area.

“Producers who suffered losses due to a recent drought may be eligible for USDA Farm Service Agency emergency loans,” the release states.

“It’s just that we sustained the drought long enough and it was bad enough that it effected our agriculture business,” Judy Roderick, Sweetwater County Emergency Management coordinator, said.

This designation allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters.

Roderick said grants are usually not what is offered, but rather low interest-rate loans. She was surprised that Sweetwater County made the list because this is the first time she has seen one like this.

The release states, “Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs, including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation or refinancing certain debts.”

Those listed in the release that are eligible to receive funding are Carbon, Fremont, Sublette and Uinta counties in Wyoming, Moffat County in Colorado and Daggett and Summit counties in Utah.

The deadline to apply for the emergency loans is June 3, 2019. The FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

The FSA has a variety of addition programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster.

FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include, operating and farm ownership loans, the emergency conservation program, livestock forage disaster program, livestock indemnity program, emergency assistance for livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish program and the tree assistance program.

For more information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs, farmers can contact their local USDA.

Additional information is also available online at http://www.farmers.gov/recover.