Federal Disaster Declared for SC Farmers Suffering Rain Damage

South Carolina farmers hit hard by excessive summer rains will soon get some relief.   

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack notified Gov. Nikki Haley Wednesday that he approved her request for a Secretarial Disaster Declaration for South Carolina counties that suffered losses due to excessive rains that began March 1. 

All 46 counties in the state sought assistance — 36 of which have suffered more than 30 percent damages to crops, such as wheat, soybeans, cotton, forage crops, and peaches. The other 10 are making the request jointly, according to the governor's office. 

The secretarial disaster declaration comes a little more than a week after Haley and Commissioner Hugh Weathers joined other agriculture leaders for a tour of one of the state’s hard hit areas, Dorchester County.

A secretarial disaster designation means farmers in both primary and contiguous counties can apply for USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.  Farmers in those counties have eight months to apply.