The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Lincoln and Marathon counties as agricultural disaster areas.
Waupaca, Portage, Shawano, Taylor, Price, Clark, Langlade, Oneida and Wood were designated as contiguous disaster counties.
The designation means farmers in those counties may be eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.
The funds will help producers cover crop losses due to the heavy rains in September 2011, which delayed the harvest and caused root rot. Farmers in the affected areas have eight months to apply for the emergency loans.
“The federal government’s recognition of crop losses in 2011 and their designation of these counties as a disaster area will ultimately help the economy in these areas,” Governor Scott Walker said Tuesday. “Giving farmers access to capital to manage the losses experienced last year will help not only the agricultural economy, but also the local communities as well.”