Conbtributed by Dewey Caron

Organic BeekeepingPost on Drought

The federal government has renewed disaster declarations for four counties in southern Oregon and all 58 California counties because of the lingering drought, which is entering its fourth year. In Oregon, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lake counties were designated as disaster areas. The designation makes qualified farm operators eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency as well as a variety of other programs to help growers recover from adversity. Read the complete description here.

Additional programs to help farmers and ranchers include the Emergency Conservation Program, the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program, and the Tree Assistance Program.