Summer weather makes state ‘disaster area’

PROVIDENCE – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Rhode Island a “primary natural disaster area” in response to heavy rains and unseasonably cold weather last spring and summer.
Gov. Donald L. Carcieri, who applied for the designation, said in a statement that between May 1 and Aug. 1, “unseasonable weather reduced the production yield of major crops as much as 30 percent, economically hurting our local farms.”
The designation makes farm operators in Rhode Island eligible to be considered for assistance from the Farm Service Agency. This assistance includes emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program, which was approved as part of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008. FSA will consider each application on its own merit, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. •