COOKEVILLE – With extreme rainfall and flooding damaging Putnam County farms in September, Congressman Bart Gordon announced today that the U.S. Agriculture Department declared Putnam County a federal agriculture disaster area.  The designation comes after Gordon joined his Tennessee colleagues in urging USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to grant the disaster declaration.

“The storms destroyed crop yields across Putnam County, significantly affecting the livelihood of farmers and their families,” Gordon said.  “With this disaster declaration, the many affected farmers can begin to rebuild and prepare for the start of the next farming season.”

The U.S. Agriculture Department’s disaster declaration enables qualifying farmers to apply for federal farm disaster assistance programs, including supplemental farm revenue payments and low-interest emergency loans.

“This federal assistance will not only help the countless farmers and their businesses that were affected by the rain and flooding,” Gordon added, “but it will also help the local county economies.”

Putnam County is among the 42 Tennessee counties covered under today’s disaster declaration.  Affected farmers in Putnam County should contact the Farm Service Agency office in Cookeville for more information.  The office’s phone number is (931) 528-6539.