Illinois Counties Declared Official Disaster Areas

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns designated 93 of Illinois’ 102 counties as primary agricultural disaster areas.

"I am very pleased that USDA is able to offer this assistance to Illinois farmers and ranchers struggling due to the drought and look forward to visiting with them in the near future," says Johanns. "Speaker Hastert has been very helpful in bringing to my attention information about the severity of this drought and moving this process forward."

The 93 following counties were designated as primary disaster areas due to drought:

• Adams, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, De Kalb, De Witt, Douglas, Du Page, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Fulton, Gallatin, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Lake, Lawrence, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Mason, Massac, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Menard, Mercer, Monroe, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Piatt, Pike, Pope, Putnam, Randolph, Richland, Rock Island, Saline, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, St. Clair, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Vermilion, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne, White, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, Winnebago, Woodford

Also eligible because they are contiguous are the following eight counties:

• Bond, Christian, Franklin, Hancock, Macon, Montgomery, Pulaski, Union

Alexander County is the only county in the state that will not be eligible for emergency loans as a result of this declaration.

All qualified farm operators in these counties are now eligible for low-interest emergency (EM) loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the June 27 date of declaration to apply for the loans to help cover actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.