Local farmers eligible for aid in wake of flooding

But Farm Services Agency State Executive Director Julia Wickard says farmers in 35 adjacent counties will also have access to emergency, low-interest loans.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared 53 counties – including Fountain, Jasper, Montgomery, Newton and Tippecanoe – as primary disaster areas Wednesday because of damages and losses that farmers have incurred.

Counties eligible for assistance include Carroll, Lee, and Whiteside; Bureau and Ogle are eligible as contiguous counties.

08/12/2015The U.S. Department of Agriculture likely will trim estimates for domestic corn and soybean production in its monthly supply-and-demand report on Wednesday, reflecting adverse weather in parts of the Farm Belt, according to analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

Farmers interested in applying for loans can visit the USDA website and contact their local FSA offices for application details.

The designations mean that farmers in all but four of Indiana’s counties, including Steuben in northeast Indiana, qualify for assistance.

“Illinois has suffered a lot of storm and rain damage throughout this Spring and Summer”, Rauner said. Due to record setting rainfall and the resulting floods that began at the beginning of May, many Indiana farmers have lost significant amounts of their crops.

Not only will Indiana farms produce smaller crops, projected large harvests elsewhere are driving down corn and soybean prices.

Soybean crops could make somewhat a recovery if conditions improve in the 45 days, Casteel said. The months of June and July together were the second-wettest June and July on record.

State officials say under the secretarial disaster declaration, low-interest emergency loans are available to all producers suffering losses in the 53 counties, as well as in affected contiguous counties. The government, however, cut its export forecast while also lowering its winter wheat production view.