BATON ROUGE- Farmers in 11 Louisiana parishes could be eligible for federal disaster assistance because of damage from flooding and losses caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated two parishes - Avoyelles and Catahoula parishes - as primary natural disaster areas.

Farmers in the parishes are eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the USDA's Farm Service Agency , if they meet eligibility requirements.

Nine other parishes, Strain's office says, are designated contiguous disaster areas. Farmers in Caldwell, Concordia, Evangeline, Franklin, LaSalle, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, St. Landry and Tensas parishes could be available for other USDA disaster aid programs.