More Kentucky counties designated as drought disaster areas

FRANKFORT, Ky.  (Aug. 20, 2012) – Gov. Steve Beshear today announced more Kentucky counties have been classified as drought disaster areas by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

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In a letter to the governor, Vilsack declared an additional 68 Kentucky counties as primary disaster areas because of losses caused by drought that occurred April 1 and continuing. Primary counties included in this disaster designation are as follows:

Also as a result of this designation, 22 contiguous counties are eligible for assistance. Those counties are as follows:

After a similar declaration last month and earlier this month, Kentucky now has 116 counties as either primary or contiguous disaster areas because of drought. The four counties not covered are Bell, Harlan, Leslie and Perry counties.

“We are pleased that Sec. Vilsack has issued this disaster designation for the benefit of additional farm families in Kentucky. While some areas have seen rain in recent weeks, it did not arrive in time to mitigate agricultural losses in these counties,” Beshear said. “The widespread impact this drought has had on the commonwealth can be seen in that 97 percent of the state is covered by a disaster designation. I appreciate Sec. Vilsack’s continued support of our farm families.”

To date, the USDA has designated 1,792 counties as disaster areas—1,670 because of drought.