Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue designates Irma disaster counties in Georgia

ALBANY — Eighty-three counties, including four in metro Albany and others in Southwest Georgia, have been designated primary disaster counties in Georgia affected by Hurricane Irma by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made the designations Monday. In metro Albany, Lee, Terrell, Worth and Baker counties were included in the list of primary disaster counties, while Dougherty County was included among the 25 contiguous Georgia counties in the declaration.

U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, whose 8th Congressional District includes 22 of the primary counties, said he was pleased that Perdue made the declaration.

“Middle and south Georgia have been hit hard by destructive weather throughout 2017, suffering damages to homes, businesses and farms alike,” Scott said. “Agriculture is the oldest and largest industry in Georgia, and I am glad to see this declaration from Secretary Perdue opening up more resources for our producers to get back on their feet again.”

In a letter to Gov. Nathan Deal dated Monday, Perdue, who Deal succeeded as governor, said the state executive director of the Farm Service Agency had requested the designations on Sept. 30 for damage that occurred from the tropical storm Sept. 10-12 in Georgia.

Perdue said USDA reviewed loss assessment reports and determined there were sufficient production losses to warrant his designation of a natural disaster, leading him to designate the 83 primary disaster counties. Under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, Perdue said, he also was naming adjacent counties in Georgia and other states as contiguous counties.

“A secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from FSA, provided eligibility requirements are met,” Perdue wrote. “This assistance includes FSA emergency loans.”

A farmer in an eligible county has eight months from the designation date to apply for an emergency loan. Perdue said each application will be considered on its own merits, taking into account production losses and the security and repayment ability of the operator.

Primary counties in Georgia are Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Clay, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Grady, Hancock, Houston, Irwin, Jasper, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lamar, Lanier, Lee, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Macon, Marion, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Peach, Pierce, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tifton, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Twiggs, Upson, Ware, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, Wilcox and Worth.

Contiguous counties are Baldwin, Bryan, Bulloch, Calhoun, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Clayton, Coweta, Dougherty, Early, Fayette, Greene, Henry, Jones, Laurens, McDuffie, Meriwether, Morgan, Newton, Quitman, Richmond, Talbot, Taliaferro, Warren and Wilkinson.

Contiguous counties in other states include four in Alabama, nine in Florida and five in South Carolina.