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The United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service in Tennessee recently announced that an additional $2 million in assistance is being made available to eligible Tennessee farmers and forestland owners who suffered damage to working lands due to flooding events that occurred from Feb. 19 to March 30. The application cutoff deadline is July 31, 2019.

“Our customers are our priority, and we recognize the devastation and negative impact that has occurred throughout Tennessee’s farming community due to the recent floods,” said State Conservationist Sheldon Hightower. “NRCS stands ready to assist, and we encourage producers who were affected to contact their local USDA Service Center to apply for assistance by the July 31 deadline.”

Agricultural producers and non-industrial forest landowners in the following counties are eligible to apply for assistance: Anderson, Bedford, Bledsoe, Blount, Campbell, Carter, Cheatham, Clay, Claiborne, Cocke, Coffee, Decatur, DeKalb, Dickson, Dyer, Fentress, Gibson, Giles, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Hawkins, Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Lake, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Marion, Marshall, McNairy, Moore, Morgan, Obion, Overton, Perry, Rhea, Roane, Robertson, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Smith, Tipton, Unicoi, Van Buren, Warren, Wayne.

NRCS will utilize the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for this special disaster recovery sign-up. EQIP is a voluntary conservation program that helps agricultural producers protect the environment while promoting agricultural production. It also aims to protect affected land from erosion, support disaster recovery and repair, and can help mitigate loss from exceptional storm events in the future.

Agricultural producers and non-industrial forest landowners interested in applying for EQIP Disaster Recovery Assistance should contact their local USDA service center to see if their land is eligible. More information is available online at the Tennessee NRCS website.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).