Farmers eligible

for drought relief
By Scott Nicholson

Local farmers may be eligible for drought aid after a dry growing season hampered agricultural production.

Watauga County is one of 59 counties in the state of North Carolina declared a natural-disaster area based on damages and losses caused by drought and extreme heat that occurred beginning in January. As a result of the federal disaster declaration, agricultural producers may be eligible for federal disaster assistance, including Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.

Bud Smith, Watauga County’s Farm Service Agent, said, “Watauga and Avery pasture and hay land suffered severely, and most field crops, too. Drought affects a lot of different things.”

Smith said average annual rainfall was 17 inches less than normal, which has had secondary effects that also hamper crops and field production. He said that any farmer who suffered a production or physical loss should contact the local or district office for additional information.

“Springs dry up and people had to dig new wells or haul water for livestock,” Smith said, saying such costs may be eligible for loans. “Water is a precious resource.”

In addition to the 59 primary disaster counties, 37 additional North Carolina counties are named as contiguous counties where eligible family farmers may qualify for FSA loan assistance.

Watauga County is currently rated as suffering “Severe drought” by the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Committee. Twenty-five counties, most of them in the western portion of the state, are suffering extreme, exceptional or severe drought.

July 1, 2009 is the deadline for filing an application. The local office is located at the Watauga/Avery FSA Office, 971 West King Street, Boone, NC 28607 and the phone number is (828) 264-3850.