MISSOURI AG DISASTER DECLARATION

Governor Jay Nixon Tuesday requested that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack designate 114 counties in Missouri as primary agricultural disaster areas. The designation would permit assistance from the USDA's Farm Service Agency to farmers in those counties that have suffered losses to crops and livestock as a result of the ongoing drought throughout the state.

On June 25th, Governor Nixon requested that the Farm Service Agency assess agricultural damage across the state due to the ongoing extremely dry conditions. The assessment found that 114 Missouri counties meet the disaster threshold of having losses of at least 30 percent of the estimated yield of a single crop or where individual farmers suffer production losses of more than 30 percent.

A disaster designation would allow eligible farmers to be considered for assistance from the USDA's Farm Service Agency, including FSA emergency loans.