Nashville ? Governor Phil Bredesen announced today he has requested a federal designation of agricultural disaster for six counties in East and Middle Tennessee to help farmers who have suffered crop losses as a result of drought and extreme heat this past summer. Bredesen made the request in a letter dated Jan. 11 to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns.

?Weather conditions have plagued many Tennessee farmers throughout the growing season from below normal rainfall to hurricane driven wind and storms,? said Bredesen. ?These farms in essence operate as small businesses, and it?s difficult for them to sustain the kind of losses that we?ve seen. Today, I am requesting an agricultural disaster designation to begin the process of making federal assistance available.?

The six counties include: Anderson, Campbell, Cannon, Carter, Knox and Sullivan.

This is in addition to a request for federal farm assistance made for eight counties in December, which included: Bradley, Cumberland, DeKalb, Johnson, Macon, Polk, Trousdale and Warren.

A similar request was made for 19 Tennessee counties in October all of which were subsequently approved. Those counties included: Clay, Fentress, Giles, Greene, Hancock, Hawkins, Jackson, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Scott, Smith, Sumner, Unicoi, Van Buren, Washington, White, Williamson and Wilson.

Although dollar estimates of damages are not available, thousands of acres of crops including corn, soybeans, tobacco and vegetables have been lost or severely damaged due primarily for drought. Some individual farmers have reported losses of 60 percent or more for some crops. Many farmers have had to feed winter stocks of hay and grain, or graze livestock on fields reserved for hay production due to poor pasture conditions. Farmers in Bradley, Macon, Polk and Trousdale also reported damages as a result of hurricane activity in late August and early September.

Governor Bredesen made the request for assistance upon the recommendation of state Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens and the USDA State Emergency Board.

Under a USDA Secretarial Disaster Designation, farmers in counties which have sustained sufficient losses are eligible to apply for federal aid in the form of low-interest emergency loans and other possible assistance.

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