USDA Declares Disaster in Five More La. Parishes

By Avery J. Davidson

Louisiana Farm Bureau News

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack issued secretarial disaster declarations for an additional five Louisiana parishes due to excessive rains. Those parishes are Bossier, Caddo, Grant, Rapides and West Carroll. This comes just more than a month after Vilsack declared disaster in 11 other Louisiana parishes due to excessive rain.

Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation was joined by Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and the LSU AgCenter in encouraging farmers to report necessary data showing the need for a disaster declaration for the rains that occurred June 1, 2022 through November 29, 2022. That’s when many farmers who were about to harvest the most expensive crop they ever planted suffered damage to their crop so severe, they either had to plow it under or sell what they harvested at salvage prices.

Secretary Vilsack informed Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards of the disaster declaration in a letter dated January 31, 2023. According to the letter, this disaster declaration makes farm operators in primary parishes and contiguous parishes and counties eligible for emergency loans through the Farm Service Agency. Farmers have 8 months from the date of the secretarial disaster declaration to apply. 

The 14 contiguous Louisiana parishes included in the declaration are Allen, Avoyelles, Bienville, De Soto, East Carroll, Evangeline, LaSalle, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Red River, Richland, Vernon, Webster and Winn. There the counties of Chico, Lafayette and Miller in Arkansas are also included as contiguous to the disaster as are the counties of Cats, Harrison, Marion and Panola in Texas. 

Read the letter here.