Bishop Seeks Drought Assistance for Georgia Farmers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) today joined members of Georgia's congressional delegation in urging U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to grant Secretarial Disaster Designations for those counties that have been adversely impacted by the state's ongoing drought. Due to high temperatures that have engulfed Georgia the last several months, sectors of the state's agricultural industry, particularly farming communities in southwest Georgia, have suffered severe economic hardships. With Secretarial Disaster Designation, Georgia farmers negatively affected by the drought in certain counties would be eligible to apply for emergency loans and other benefits provided under the existing Farm Bill. Secretarial Disaster Designation status has been requested for farmers in the following counties: Appling Burke Coffee Early Atkinson Butts Colquitt Echols Bacon Calhoun Columbia Effingham Baker Camden Cook Elbert Banks Candler Coweta Emanuel Barrow Carroll Crawford Evans Bartow Catoosa Crisp Fannin Ben Hill Charlton Dade Fayette Berrien Chatham Dawson Floyd Bibb Chattooga Decatur Forsyth Bleckley Cherokee DeKalb Franklin Brantley Clarke Dodge Fulton Brooks Clay Dooly Gilmer Bryan Clinch Dougherty Glascock Bulloch Cobb Douglas Glynn Gordon Lincoln Polk Towns Grady Long Pulaski Treutlen Gwinnett Lowndes Putnam Troup Habersham Lumpkin Quitman Turner Hall Macon Rabun Twiggs Hancock Madison Randolph Union Haralson Marion Richmond Upson Harris McDuffie Rockdale Walker Hart McIntosh Schley Walton Heard Meriwether Screven Ware Henry Miller Seminole Warren Houston Mitchell Spalding Washington Irwin Monroe Stephens Wayne Jackson Montgomery Stewart Webster Jeff Davis Morgan Sumter Wheeler Jefferson Murray Taliaferro White Jenkins Oconee Tattnall Whitfield Johnson Oglethorpe Taylor Wilcox Lamar Paulding Telfair Wilkes Lanier Peach Terrell Wilkinson Laurens Pickens Thomas Worth Lee Pierce Tift Liberty Pike Toombs |