All 77 Oklahoma Counties Approved for Disaster Designation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved all 77 Oklahoma counties for a federal disaster designation due to extreme weather conditions during the past year.

Gov. Brad Henry said farmers and ranchers in the state are eligible for low-interest Farm Service Agency loans to cover losses caused by extreme weather between September 2008 and June of this year.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack approved 74 counties for a primary natural disaster designation. Ranchers and farmers in the remaining three counties – Adair, Cherokee and Pushmataha – are also eligible for FSA loans because those counties are contiguous to the primary disaster area.

Henry says the agriculture and ranching industries have been hit hard by drought combined with floods, hail, fire, high winds and freezing temperatures.