Jefferson, Van Buren counties included in disaster declaration

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a disaster declaration for 27 Iowa counties, including Jefferson and Van Buren, affected by a wild range of weather this year from floods and tornadoes to excessive heat and drought.

The USDA said Wednesday it has designated the counties as natural disaster areas due to crops losses that began on April 1. Thirty-three contiguous counties also are covered.

The designation allows farmers in the affected counties to receive assistance through federal emergency loans.

In addition to Jefferson and Van Buren counties, the other counties are: Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Fremont, Henry, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Lucas, Mahaska, Marshall, Mills, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Page, Polk, Tama, Taylor, Wapello, Washington, Wayne and Woodbury.

The contiguous counties are: Adams, Appanoose, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Buchanan, Cass, Cedar, Cherokee, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Grundy, Hardin, Harrison, Ida, Iowa, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Muscatine, Plymouth, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Story, Union and Warren.

?I applaud the USDA for their decision to assist the farmers and rural areas that were greatly affected by the devastating storms,? said Congressman Dave Loebsack. ?As we continue to struggle to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, our rural areas and farmers need this assistance to help assure they are well-positioned to contribute to our economic recovery.?

Last month, Loebsack wrote to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in support of the declaration.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this article.