IOWA - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says relief is on the was for Iowa farmers who are trying to recover from last month's derecho storm.
Perdue toured damaged crops Thursday with Governor Kim Reynolds, Senator Joni Ernst and State Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig.
Perdue said the extent of damage to crops, equipment, facilities, and the ag sector as a whole from the recent derecho is devastating.
He signed a declaration during the tour that designates 18 Iowa counties as primary natural disaster areas, which allows farmers within those counties and adjacent counties to apply for emergency loans.
More than 40 Iowa counties are included in the program, and Perdue said more counties may qualify for aid in the future.
The designated counties are listed below:
Primary - Benton, Boone, Cedar, Clinton, Dallas, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hardin, Jasper, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Marshall, Polk, Poweshiek, Scott, Story, and Tama.
Also eligible - Adair, Audubon, Black Hawk, Buchanan, Butler, Carroll, Cass, Delaware, Dubuque, Franklin, Greene, Grundy, Iowa, Jackson, Keokuk, Louisa, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Muscatine, Warren, Washington, Webster, and Wright.
More detailed information about USDA recovery assistance is here.