Leflore County is one of 21 counties in the state designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by a freeze March 25-29.
Other counties included in the designation are Clarke, Harrison, Marion, Copiah, Jackson, Pearl River, Covington, Jones, Perry, Forrest, Lamar, Pike, George, Lauderdale, Stone, Greene,Walthall, Hancock, Lincoln and Wayne.
Other areas also qualify for assistance because they border these designated counties. Carroll, Holmes and Sunflower counties are in that category, along with Amite, Hinds, Jefferson Davis, Rankin, Kemper, Simpson, Claiborne, Humphreys, Lawrence, Smith, Franklin, Jasper, Neshoba, Grenada, Jefferson, Newton and Tallahatchie counties.
Jim Thomas, who farms in both Leflore and Holmes counties, said that he didn’t have crops in the field at the time of the freeze although some farmers might have had early-planted corn.
He said while wet field conditions delayed some planting this year, that wasn’t related to the March freeze.
Now, the lack of rainfall is of much bigger concern, Thomas said. Since June, his fields near Cruger have received just 0.3 inch of rain.
Farmers and ranchers can apply for low-interest emergency loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
