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7/30/12 . U.S. Agriculture secretary issues drought disaster declaration for Colorado farms - Longmont Times -Call <br />U.S. Agriculture secretary issues drought disaster declara,.U'n for <br />Colorado farms <br />John Fryar Longmont Times -Call Longmont Times -Call <br />Posted: TimesCalLcom <br />U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday issued a drought disaster designation for 62 of <br />Colorado's 64 counties, making federal assistance available for at least some farmers and ranchers. <br />Vilsack notified Gov. John Hickenlooper of the disaster declaration on Tuesday, according to members of <br />Colorado's congressional delegation, who were alerted to the action on Tuesday morning. <br />The U.S. Department of Agriculture has reviewed loss assessment reports and determined that there were <br />sufficient losses in 62 counties -- all of Colorado's counties except Delta and San Juan -- to qualify them as <br />'primary natural disaster areas due to losses caused by drought, excessive heat and high winds that occurred <br />from Jan. 1, 2012, and continuing," according to the letter. <br />The disaster designation makes farm operators eligible for assistance, including emergency loans, from the <br />federal Farm Service Agency, provided other eligibility requirements are met. <br />Hickenlooper, who wrote Vilsack last week seeking assistance, said in a Tuesday afternoon statement, 'This <br />federal disaster declaration will give farmers and ranchers in Weld County and nearly every other part of the <br />state much needed relief " <br />Farmers in eligible counties have eight months to apply for emergency loan assistance. The Farm Service <br />Agency will consider each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of <br />production losses, security available and repayment ability. <br />Weld County commissioners have backed their county's farmers' continuing push for state permission to pump <br />water from an underground aquifer in the South Platte River Basin -- something Colorado Attorney General <br />John Suthers' staff has advised that Hickenlooper doesn't have the legal authority to do. <br />Weld's commissioners then sought a formal legal opinion from Suthers, asking him to consider legal points <br />raised by Weld County Attorney Bruce Barker. <br />Weld commissioners' spokeswoman Jennifer Finch said Tuesday that Suthers' office has declined the <br />commissioners' request for a formal legal opinion. <br />Meanwhile, Weld coirnnissioners announced Tuesday that they were asking about 30 ditch companies and <br />others holding senior rights to surface water for their consent to allow Weld farmers to pump from those wells <br />for up to 30 days to irrigate their fields during the drought. <br />'This would only be on pumps currently metered," commissioner Sean Conway told The Denver Post. 'What <br />we're asking for is very limited, and it's on an augmentation plan. Everything has to be put back." <br />For about six years, South Platte River Basin farmers have been prohibited by court decisions and state <br />www.timescall.com /news /ci_ 20997160 /u- s- agriculture- secretary- issues - drought - disaster- declaration 1/2 <br />