Area farmers eligible for disaster aid

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom J. Vilsack has declared Roosevelt County a disaster area in a move that also affects Curry and Quay counties.

Roosevelt is among seven New Mexico counties listed as disaster areas because of production losses from high winds and drought, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Curry and Quay counties are among those listed as contiguous, or neighboring, disaster counties.

Vilsack made the designations Friday, according to information the agency release late Tuesday.

The declaration makes farm operators in primary and contiguous counties eligible for federal assistance, including emergency loans and supplemental revenue payments from the Farm Service Agency.

Chaves, De Baca, Eddy, Lea, Lincoln and Otero counties are also designated primary disaster areas.

Dona Ana, Guadalupe, Sierra, Socorro and Torrance counties in New Mexico, and Andrews, Bailey, Cochran, Culberson, El Paso, Gaines, Hudspeth, Loving, Reeves, Winkler and Yoakum counties in Texas are contiguous disaster counties.

Information: Farm Service Agency at 356-6629.