A staff report in The Columbia Paper says the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Columbia, Greene, Dutchess, and Rensselaer counties in the state as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by a drought that began June 13, 2010 and continues. Columbia is also among 19 counties around the state designated by the USDA last week as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by frost, freezing, high winds, hail, excessive snow, excessive rain and cold temperatures that occurred from February 15 to May 12, 2010. “President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to a wide variety of crops including fruit and vegetable crops, and we want to help,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a December 20 press release announcing the drought declaration, as reported in The Columbia Paper. “This action will provide help to farmers who suffered significant production losses,” said the secretary. He visited the region earlier this year during the campaign season at the request of Congressman Scott Murphy. All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas December 17, 2010, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Local farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov. The Department of Enviromental Conservation says current drought conditions are normal.