After a request from Gov. Nathan Deal, federal agriculture officials have declared 22 Georgia counties as disaster areas due to ongoing drought conditions.

Bryan County is one of the 22 that qualify for the federal relief and benefits provided by the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008.

Bryan County Extension Agent Don Gardner said farmers in Bryan County who had crop insurance and lost a crop would be eligible to apply for compensation. Gardner said he is unsure whether any farmers will apply.

“I haven’t heard anyone say they were going to, but that doesn’t mean I know all the farmers in the county or have talked to them,” he said.

Though crops in Bryan County have been planted late, no farmer in the county has lost a crop, according to Gardner.

“The good news for our farmers … in cotton, we’ve recently gotten some rain and they’ve done some replanting and it looks like they are trying to make a yield,” Gardner said.

The other 21 counties included in the designation approved by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack are Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Chatham, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Dodge, Effingham, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Telfair, Thomas, Wayne and Wheeler.

Read more in the June 29 edition of the News.