Congressman Asks USDA to Declare Barrow a Disaster Area

Congressman Rob Woodall is calling on the USDA to designate Barrow and other counties disaster areas due to extreme heat and drought that has affected the state’s agriculture.  

Woodall has joined other members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation in asking U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to review a request sent by Governor Nathan Deal to designate any eligible counties as Secretarial Disaster Areas.

“Agriculture is a major contributor to Georgia’s economy,” Woodall said in a news release. “The extreme weather conditions in the great state of Georgia have had a severe impact on our farmers and producers and unfortunately, we will need to do more than just pray for rain in order to sustain what comprises the backbone of our economy.”

Secretarial Disaster Areas are eligible for emergency federal funding under the Farm Service Agency. Once a county is declared a Secretarial Disaster Area, farmers in that county have eight months from the date of declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance.