This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Thursday declared all of Utah's 29 counties disaster areas, qualifying farmers and ranchers coping with fires and drought for low-interest loans.
The secretary designated 24 counties as primary natural disaster areas. The state's remaining five counties - Daggett, Grand, Sevier, Wayne and Wasatch - have been declared contiguous disaster areas.
Once a county receives a natural or contiguous disaster designation, all farmers become eligible to apply to the USDA Farm Service Agency in their respective counties for emergency loans.
To receive a primary disaster declaration, a county must have incurred a production loss of at least 30 percent.
Contiguous areas must be surrounded by impacted counties.
"This is going to help some people get through this difficult time," said state Agriculture Commissioner Leonard Blackham. "There's also been some rains, especially in the southern part of the state, and that's been good, too."
In addition to record wildfires and severe drought, the 24 counties have suffered from insect infestations, killing frosts, hot dry winds and flash flooding, Johanns said in a letter to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
Most ranchers said in a recent survey that they expected little help after record wildfires that have blackened more than 700,000 acres.
They reported destroyed water systems, fences and outbuildings, and problems with finding money to buy hay for thousands of displaced cattle.
The federal government "should help the people that depend upon agriculture, not help people that use agriculture for a tax write-off," one rancher in the survey, which was conducted by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
Another asked for feed "to take care of wildlife so landowners don't have to." And still another wrote, "Thanks for any help at all."