JOHNSONVILLE, SC (WBTW) – Local farmers hurt by last month’s historic flood now take advantage of help from the Federal Government.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers in 29 South Carolina counties are eligible for emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.
Jason Eaddy is a 5th generation farmer. He and his father own Eaddy’s farm in Johnsonville where they tend to 500 acres of corn, wheat, and soybeans.
“We lost about 400 acres of soybeans that were completely submerged under water,” Eaddy said.
The flooding has caused unimaginable hardship for many farmers who now try to assess the monetary value of damage and begin to harvest what is salvageable of their crops.
“They got a pretty fair amount of damage on them so we’re not exactly sure how exactly what we’re going to be able to with them so far and then we also lost about 40 head of cows,” Eaddy added.
While he figures that out, Eaddy says he will take advantage of the available disaster assistance programs and loans, as a way to alleviate part of the financial burden caused by the flood.
“I’m very happy. Any help that we’re able to get from the Governor’s office or the Department of Agriculture will be greatly appreciated,” said Eaddy.
For Jason any help will suffice to replenish thirty years of farmland and a loss of nearly five $500,000 worth of crops and cattle.
“Growing cows is a slow process because it takes about nine months to have a calf to grow the heard and stuff. Cows are pretty high right now as far as buying them back, so we’re not able to purchase all that we have lost,” explained Eaddy.
So the assistance is at least worth giving a shot.
Eaddy says the disaster assistance will be a great help for his farm this year and other farmers in the state.
Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.
Those counties include:
Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Berkeley, Calhoun, Chester, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lee, Lexington, Marion, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda, Sumter and Williamsburg.
Thirteen counties were designated as contiguous disaster areas:
Abbeville, Anderson, Beaufort, Charleston, Chesterfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, McCormick, Marlboro, Spartanburg, Union and York.
