WASHINGTON - The US Agriculture Department on Wednesday declared virtually all of Illinois a disaster area eligible for low-interest loans because of crops withered by this summer's drought.
Only one county -- Alexander County in the southernmost tip of the state -- is not included in the disaster declaration.
"I am very pleased that USDA is able to offer this assistance to Illinois farmers and ranchers struggling due to the drought and look forward to visiting with them in the near future," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in a statement.
Illinois has been gripped by drought ranked as "extreme" or "severe" in recent weeks by the US Agriculture Department's weather experts. State rainfall from March through June was just 8.5 inches, about half the normal level.
On Monday, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, requested federal disaster aid. He said more than 117,000 farmers statewide have reported production losses, including 74,000 who estimated the drought would destroy at least one-third of their crops.
Last year, Illinois was the nation's second largest corn producer, harvesting nearly 20 percent of the record 11.8 billion bushel US crop.
The USDA declaration designated 93 Illinois counties as primary disaster areas and eligible to apply for low-interest loans from the USDA's Farm Service Agency. Eight more counties are also eligible because they are contiguous.
Farmers have eight months to apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
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