Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has designated 213 Texas counties for agriculture assistance related to drought, excessive heat, high winds and wildfires. The 213 counties along with their contiguous counties, enables operators in all 254 counties in the State of Texas to file for agriculture assistance.

This disaster designation makes farm operators in both primary and contiguous counties eligible to be considered for assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments (SURE) Program. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loan assistance. FSA will consider each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses, security available, and repayment ability. SURE Program applications for 2011 crop losses will be accepted in 2012, when the *2011 *farm revenue data required by statute becomes available.

Local Farm Service Agency offices can provide affected farmers with further information.
A map of affected counties is available, as well as a copy of the designation.