Warren County is among 45 Mississippi counties named Thursday by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue as a primary natural disaster area.

The designation is for producers who suffered losses caused by the combined effects of freeze, excessive rainfall, flooding and flash flooding that occurred from Jan. 15 and continuing. Producers in those counties could be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency emergency loans.

Farmers qualifying for emergency loans may borrow up to 100 percent of their actual production loss or the amount needed to restore their operation to its pre-disaster condition, whichever is less, or refinance certain debts.

FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

The counties included in the designation are Adams, Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clay, Covington, Forrest, Grenada, Harrison, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Jefferson, Lamar, Lee, Leflore, Lowndes, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pontotoc, Sharkey, Stone, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Walthall, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson, Winston, Yalobusha and Yazoo counties.

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is April 7, 2020.

Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.

Additional information is also available online at https://www.farmers.gov/recover.