USDA declares Missouri a drought disaster area

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared virtually all of Missouri a disaster area because of the severe drought, Sen. Jim Talent said Wednesday.

The declaration comes two weeks after Gov. Matt Blunt asked the agency to help the state recover from the Midwest's worst drought in 17 years.

Under the designation, qualified farmers in the state are eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the USDA's Farm Service Agency, federal grants, tax relief and other assistance.

"We are doing everything we can to help Missouri farmers and ranchers cope with one of the driest growing seasons in recent memory," said Talent, who worked with USDA officials to speed approval of the governor's request.

The designation covers 112 of Missouri's 114 counties -- all except Atchison and Holt. It also excludes the city of St. Louis. USDA guidelines require a minimum 30 percent production loss of at least one crop for a county to be included in a disaster designation.

Producers eligible for emergency loans can borrow up to 100 percent of actual crop production or physical losses, up to $500,000. The current interest rate for the loans is 3.75 percent.

In addition to the disaster programs, the USDA said earlier this month it would send more than $1 million in Emergency Conservation Program funds to 22 Missouri counties to help farmers and ranchers cope with the drought.

Steve McIntosh, surface water section chief with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said the drought has been unusual considering how suddenly it began this spring and how quickly it wreaked havoc across the state.

"It's probably one of the most sudden onsets of drought we've seen since 1988," McIntosh said. "Missouri and Illinois were probably the worst hit states in the nation during July and August." The unusually hot, dry weather has sharply reduced the expected yields of many Missouri crops. Corn production in the state is 36 percent below last year's record production, while the soybean crop is down 30 percent from last year, but still 7 percent above the 2003 crop, according to the state agricultural statistics service.

McIntosh said recent rainfall has helped conditions somewhat. Within the last three weeks, areas of the state have seen as much as 6 inches of above-normal rainfall.

But the relief is not expected to last beyond this week, according to Wednesday's long-range weather forecast issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center. The agency says drier weather will return in September.

On the Net:

U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency's disaster assistance site: disaster.fsa.usda.gov/fsa.asp

Missouri Department of Natural Resources: www.dnr.mo.gov