HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding notified farmland owners in 25 Pennsylvania counties that they are eligible to receive disaster relief assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) due to losses caused by drought that occurred during the 2020 crop year.

Elk is listed as one of the primary counties, and McKean, Cameron and Potter are contiguous counties, for the drought from June 1 through Nov. 30.

“I encourage Pennsylvania farmers who have experienced loss from mother nature’s unpredictably to check with their local Farm Service Agency to see how they can help,” said Redding. “Our farmers are resilient, battling both disaster and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and disaster. These farmers can now breathe a sigh of relief.”

A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the federal Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans.

Eligible farmers can apply for loans for up to eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration, and should contact their local FSA office for assistance. More information on USDA’s disaster assistance program, including county lists and maps, can be found at disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

March 15 is the federal deadline to enroll in crop insurance, and the droughts of 2020 are a stark reminder of the role crop insurance plays in mitigating risks. Those who took steps to enroll in crop insurance and guard against the risk, weathered the drought. Those who did not, are now looking at emergency loans like those afforded through the disaster declaration.