SPARTANBURG — Spartanburg, Union and Cherokee counties are eligible for USDA assistance as a result of a U.S. Department of Agriculture disaster designation declared for 24 counties in South Carolina, announced Robert Parris, Farm Loan Manager, of the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA). The disaster designation is a result of losses caused by drought that occurred from Dec. 4, 2012 through Jan. 28, 2013. The decision makes all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low-interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA).

The disaster areas were designated on Jan. 30, 2013. All qualified farm operators in the designated counties are eligible for EM loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for 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, 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. To contact the USDA Service Center for Spartanburg, Union, and Cherokee counties call 864-814-2471, ext. 2 or email robert.parris@sc.usda.gov. Additional information is also available online at: http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

FSA news releases and media advisories are available on FSA’s Web site at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/.