Published: August 26, 2006 03:50 pm            

Henderson County not on drought disaster list

Last week, Congressman Jeb Hensarling requested drought disaster designations for Henderson, Anderson, Kaufman, Van Zandt, Cherokee, Dallas and Wood counties.

Three received disaster designations Wednesday, but Henderson County wasn’t one of them.

Henderson County residents have come to expect summers to be hot and dry, and this year is living up to that expectation with a vengeance.

“We’re hurting pretty bad right now,” said Julie Moore, with the county’s branch of the Natural Resource Conservation Service. “What few showers we got (earlier this week) were too widespread to really do any good.

So why was Henderson County left off the list?

Officials with the county’s Farm Service Agency office said they are compiling the necessary data for the designation process.

Once the information is gathered, Henderson County Judge David Holstein will send it to the U.S. Department of Agriculture with a letter requesting the designation.

Hensarling noted that while the declaration is an important first step, he would continue to work to help those affected by the drought.

“This is an important and necessary step, but not the end of the road,” Hensarling said earlier this week. “I will continue to work to help East Texas producers get the help they need to overcome this devastating drought.”

Officials say areas across East Texas continue to experience serious drought conditions and higher-than-normal temperatures, impacting crops and livestock.

“According to the USDA, portions of my district are experiencing a once-in-50-years drought. It is critical that producers get the assistance that current law allows for immediately,” Hensarling said. “I have met with producers from across the district this month to let them know that in addition to drought assistance, Congress and the administration are working to drive down the cost of energy and permanently end the death tax, both of which take a bite out of our producers’ bottom line.”

Governor Rick Perry requested the designation for five Texas counties in June — Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Jeff Davis and Lavaca counties. All five were declared primary natural disaster areas and numerous others have been declared contiguous disaster counties. Among those given the contiguous disaster designation are Kaufman, Van Zandt and Wood counties.

East Texas producers within disaster designated areas are now eligible to apply for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA).

The FSA emergency loan application deadline is April 23, 2007. If producers have any questions, they can contact their local FSA office for more details.

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