Gov. Nixon requests disaster assistance from USDA

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. ­-- Gov. Jay Nixon is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help farmers whose crops wilted this summer amid high temperatures and a lack of rain in much of the state.

On Thursday, Nixon asked Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to designate 101 Missouri counties as primary disaster areas, including Butler, Bollinger, Cape Giradeau, Dunklin, Madison, Pemiscot, Perry, Ripley, Saint Francois and Washington in Southeast Missouri.

That would allow eligible farmers to get emergency loans and other federal help.

Primary disaster counties are those that lose at least 30 percent of the estimated yield of a single crop, or where individual farmers suffer losses of more than 30 percent. Farmers in counties contiguous to primary disaster areas also could be eligible for assistance.