USDA Gives 74 Indiana Counties Disaster Designation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted Governor Mitch Daniels' request for disaster designation for 74 Indiana counties due to extended drought conditions from June through October 2007. The designation was sought because the extreme dry weather caused damage to one or more crops. The disaster designation makes farmers eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA).

"While Indiana was spared the worst of the dry weather, many counties suffered from lack of rain," said Indiana Agriculture Director Andy Miller. "A review of initial reports from Indiana FSA showed significant losses of pasture, corn, soybeans, wheat and hay, which prompted the Governor to ask for the disaster designation to provide assistance for Hoosier farmers who need it."

USDA determined the following 74 counties received sufficient production losses to warrant primary disaster designation:

1. Adams
2. Allen
3. Bartholomew
4. Blackford
5. Brown
6. Clark
7. Clay
8. Crawford
9. Daviess
10. DeKalb
11. Dearborn
12. Decatur
13. Delaware
14. Dubois
15. Elkhart
16. Fayette
17. Floyd
18. Franklin
19. Fulton
20. Gibson
21. Grant
22. Greene
23. Hamilton
24. Hancock
25. Harrison
26. Hendricks
27. Henry
28. Howard
29. Huntington
30. Jackson
31. Jay
32. Jefferson
33. Jennings
34. Johnson
35. Knox
36. Kosciusko
37. Lagrange
38. Lawrence
39. Madison
40. Marion
41. Marshall
42. Martin
43. Miami
44. Monroe
45. Morgan
46. Noble
47. Ohio
48. Orange
49. Owen
50. Parke
51. Perry
52. Pike
53. Posey
54. Putnam
55. Randolph
56. Ripley
57. Rush
58. Scott
59. Shelby
60. Spencer
61. Steuben
62. Sullivan
63. Switzerland
64. Tipton
65. Union
66. Vanderburgh
67. Vermillion
68. Vigo
69. Wabash
70. Warrick
71. Washington
72. Wayne
73. Wells
74. Whitley

The following 10 counties are named as contiguous disaster counties:

1. Boone
2. Carroll
3. Cass
4. Clinton
5. Fountain
6. Montgomery
7. Pulaski
8. St. Joseph
9. Starke
10. Warren