County Board Asks Help For Farmers

TJfeHBö&d of Comrníss?ohérs' ífekefl Wednesday that the county be declared "an agricultural disaster area." Board action followed a report earlier this week that some county farmers "experienced a 50 per cent or more reduction" in expected crap yield this year. Commissioners' request will be reviewed by the governor and appropriate federal agencies. If the area received the official label "disaster area," farmers - on a case by case basis - may be eligible for low interest government loans to finance their operations for the coming year. Some farmers already have applied for assistance, but their chances for receiving aid will increase if the county is declared a disaster area. This week's report from the Cooperative Extensión Service (CES) noted that corn, the county's major erop, was one of the hardest hit by "the cool wet spring, the lack of rainfall during the summer and early killing frost this f all." According to county officials, most other counties surrounding Washtenaw already have been declared disaster areas.