Federal agriculture officials have declared 15 upstate New York counties as "primary natural disaster areas" because of this summer's drought.
Senator Charles Schumer announced low-interest loans and other U.S. Department of Agriculture programs will be available to farmers who suffer losses because of the weather. He said that should ease concerns among operators of farms, vineyards and orchards that they will not have the cash to recover from crop losses.
The USDA declaration covers the Western New York counties of Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Ontario and Wyoming. Because they neighbor the declaration area, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Orleans counties also qualify for assistance.
The other New York counties included in teh declaration area are Cayuga, Chemung, Livingston, Monroe, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins and Yates. Additional neighboring counties are Broome, Cortland, Onondaga, Oswego and Wayne.