WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2005 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated counties in California, Oklahoma and Texas as primary agricultural disaster areas, making certain farmers, ranchers and other agricultural producers in the counties eligible for low-interest emergency loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).

In California, the following 5 counties were designated

as primary disaster areas due to rain and hail storms that occurred from April 28, 2005, through May 9, 2005. Those counties are Fresno, Kern, Madera, Merced and Tulare.

Also eligible because they are contiguous are Inyo, Kings, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Mono, Monterey, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Ventura.

In Oklahoma, the following 58 counties were designated as primary disaster areas due to drought, extreme heat and high winds that occurred from Jan. 1, 2005, and continuing. Those counties are Alfafa, Atoka, Beckham, Blaine, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Choctaw, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Craig, Creek, Custer, Delaware, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Haskell, Hughes, Jefferson, Johnston, Kingfisher, Latimer, Le Flore, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, Mayes, McClain, McCurtain, McIntosh, Murray, Muskogee, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Pawnee, Payne, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Pushmataha, Roger Mills, Rogers, Seminole, Stephens, Tillman, Tulsa, Washita, Woods and Woodward.

Also eligible because they are contiguous are Adair, Beaver, Cherokee, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Jackson, Kay, Kiowa, Noble, Nowata, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Sequoyah, Wagoner and Washington.

In Texas, Crosby County was designated as primary disaster areas due to excessive rain, flash flooding, flooding, hail, high winds, lightening and tornadoes that occurred from June 9, 2005, through June 10, 2005.

Also eligible because they are contiguous include Dickens, Floyd, Garza, Hale, Kent, Lubbock, Lynn and Motley Counties.

These counties were designated on July 26, 2005.

Also in Texas, Duval County was named a primary disaster area due to losses caused by continuing drought and high winds beginning on Jan. 1, 2005, and continuing.

Eligible because they are contiguous include Brooks, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, La Salle, Live Oak, McMullen and Webb Counties in Texas.

In addition, Brooks and Jim Hogg Counties in Texas were named as primary disaster areas due to losses caused by drought, high winds and excessive temperatures that occurred from March 1, 2005, and continuing.

Eligible because they are contiguous include Duval, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Starr, Webb and Zapata Counties in Texas.

Also in Texas, Baylor and Jones Counties have been named primary disaster areas due to losses caused by excessive rain, flash flooding, flooding, hail, high winds and lightning that occurred on May 31, 2005.

Eligible because they are contiguous include Archer, Callahan, Fisher, Foard, Haskell, Knox, Nolan, Shackelford, Stonewall, Taylor, Throckmorton, Wichita, Wilbarger and Young Counties.

These counties were designated on July 29, 2005, making all qualified farm operators eligible for low-interest emergency (EM) loans from the FSA, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for the 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. FSA has a variety of programs available, in addition to the emergency loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

USDA has also made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Emergency Conservation Program, Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.

Additional information is also available online at: http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.