Nixon Asks Feds for Crop Damage Estimates

Gov. Nixon today asked U.S.D.A.’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to conduct damage assessment reports for all 114 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis to determine the extent of damage to crops and livestock because of the excessive heat and severe drought conditions persisting throughout the state. The request for damage assessments is the first step in the process of declaring counties as primary disaster areas. Primary disaster counties are those that lose at least 30% of the estimated yield of a single crop, or where individual farmers suffer production losses of more than 30%. A disaster designation would allow eligible farmers to be considered for assistance from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency.