Gov. Holcomb Requests Agricultural Disaster Designation for 88 Counties

Includes Jefferson and Switzerland Counties

 Governor Eric J. Holcomb announced today that the state of Indiana is requesting a U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretarial disaster designation for 88 counties due to losses caused by flooding and excessive rain this planting season.

“Heavy and persistent rainfall has saturated fields across the state, hurting Indiana crops and our farmers,” Gov. Holcomb said. “As I continue to monitor this situation, Hoosier farmers can rest assured that we will keep a close eye on the long-term effects of these relentless rains.”

The request was made today in a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue and signed by Gov. Holcomb, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and Indiana Farm Service Agency Executive Director Steven Brown.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data shows that the past 12 months have been the wettest on record in the United States. A USDA disaster designation can be requested when at least 30 percent of one crop is damaged or lost in a county. Of the state’s 92 counties, 88 counties have reported data meeting that threshold.

The designation would allow emergency low-interest loans to be made available to farmers. The low-interest financing can also be made to counties contiguous to counties in the disaster zone.

The counties included in the requested designation are:

Adams

Allen

Bartholomew

Blackford

Boone

Brown

Carroll

Cass

Clark

Clay

Clinton

Crawford

Daviess

Dearborn

Decatur

DeKalb

Delaware

Dubois

Elkhart

Fayette

Floyd

Fountain

Franklin

Fulton

Gibson

Grant

Greene

Hamilton

Hancock

Harrison

Hendricks

Henry

Howard

Huntington

Jackson

Jasper

Jay

Jefferson

Jennings

Johnson

Knox

Kosciusko

LaGrange

Lake

LaPorte

Lawrence

Madison

Marion

Marshall

Martin

Miami

Monroe

Montgomery

Morgan

Newton

Noble

Ohio

Orange

Owen

Parke

Perry

Pike

Porter

Posey

Pulaski

Putnam

Randolph

Ripley

Saint Joseph

Scott

Spencer

Starke

Steuben

Sullivan

Switzerland

Tippecanoe

Tipton

Union

Vanderburgh

Vermillion

Vigo

Wabash

Warrick

Washington

Wayne

Wells

White

Whitley