Half of US Counties Now Considered Disaster Areas

Drought-stricken states suffering

More than half of all U.S. counties have been designated primary disaster areas this growing season - that's 1,584 counties in 32 states. The last 218 counties were added Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including ones in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming. The drought-stricken states see farmers and ranchers cash-strapped and struggling with extreme dryness and heat. To help ease their burden, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack opened up 3.8 million acres of conservation land on Thursday for ranchers to use for haying and grazing. "The assistance announced today will help U.S. livestock producers dealing with climbing feed prices, critical shortages of hay and deteriorating pasturelands," Vilsack said. It has been reported that, amongst other things, the nation's corn and soybean crop were rated poor. "The USDA cannot make it rain, but it can apply flexibility to the conservation practices," Sen. Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat. (AP)

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