Late Frost Responsible for Disaster Designations

Thompson Announces Disaster Designations for Clarion, Venango, Warren Counties

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Howard, today was notified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that Secretary Thomas J. Vilsack has agreed that there were sufficient production losses in Clarion, Venango, and Warren Counties to warrant a disaster designation. The designation was based on losses that occurred due to a late season frost in the second week of May, 2010.

“This secretarial designation makes farm operators eligible for assistance from the Farm Service Agency, including emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program (SURE),” Thompson explained. “Farmers have eight months from July 16, 2010–when the Secretary made the designation, to apply for assistance.”

The contiguous counties of Armstrong, Butler, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, McKean and Mercer also qualify for emergency loans.

Contact the FSA office in Clarion at 814-226-8160 and in DuBois at 814-375-1297.

The following website will take farmers to the Pennsylvania site for the Farm Service Agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/stateoffapp?mystate=pa&area=home&subject=landing&topic=landing