USDA TO AID DROUGHT-STRICKEN FARMERS IN MID-ATLANTIC STATES


							Release No. 0267.97

						Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623
						Greg Hawkins (202) 720-6788


USDA TO AID DROUGHT-STRICKEN FARMERS IN MID-ATLANTIC STATES

     WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced a series of financial aid measures available to farmers suffering
from drought in the Mid-Atlantic states. The Secretary made emergency loans
available to family-sized farmers in thirty-three counties in five states
because of farm losses caused by the excessive heat and drought that began
in July.

     The Clinton Administration continues to aid family farmers hurt by
natural disasters, such as the drought that has plagued the Mid Atlantic
this summer, Glickman said.  "While USDA can't do anything about the
weather, we will do all we can to help those farmers who have been adversely
affected by weather conditions out of their control."  

     The Secretary designated 33 counties as eligible for disaster
assistance.

     Twelve Maryland counties received primary disaster designations. 
These are:  Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Frederick, Harford, Howard,
Kent, Montgomery, Queen Anne, Talbot, and Washington.

     In addition to these twelve counties, the contiguous counties in
several states are eligible for disaster assistance. These include in
Maryland: Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Dorchester, and Prince
Georges;  the entire state of Delaware: Kent, New Castle, and Sussex
counties; in Pennsylvania: Adams, Bedford, Chester, Franklin, Fulton,
Lancaster, and York counties; in Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun
counties; and in West Virginia: Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties.

     Furthermore, emergency haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve
Program acres has been authorized in four counties in Maryland: Carroll,
Frederick, Montgomery, and Washington; Cumberland county in Pennsylvania;
and two counties in Virginia:Buckingham and Cumberland.  

     Some producers may be eligible for crop insurance or a program
designed to help growers of non-insured crops. The Noninsured Crop Disaster
Assistance Program (NAP) provides crop loss protection for growers of
certain eligible crops where crop insurance is not available.  Those areas
currently suffering from drought may qualify for NAP program payments. 
Crops covered under NAP in Maryland include hay crops, vegetables, fruits,
turfgrass sod, seed crops, and ornamental nursery.  Calculations of crop
losses in the five-state region cannot be completed until the crops are
harvested, normally by late September.

     Farmers who have questions concerning their eligibility should contact
the local Farm Service Agency office for further information and details.

     Farmers in the 33 counties eligible for emergency loans have eight
months to apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual losses.  To
be eligible, producers must have suffered at least a 30-percent loss of
normal production in a single enterprise, be able to repay the loan and any
other loans, be unable to obtain credit elsewhere, and have adequate
security.
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