BATON ROUGE - The US Department of Agriculture has issued a disaster declaration that will provide relief to Louisiana farmers who suffered losses due to heavy rains earlier this year.

The department notified Gov. John Bel Edwards of its decision last week. It lists 11 parishes as primary recipients and qualifies 30 others as "contiguous parishes," suffering less severe damage in the excessive rains that happened between June 1 and Nov. 2.

Edwards requested the assistance in mid-November.

Ascension, Iberville and West Baton Rouge are among 11 primary parishes, officials said.

Contiguous parishes in our area include Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston and West Feliciana.

“In Louisiana, the weather is always challenging for agricultural producers, and this year is no different. In the height of harvest for soybeans, rice, corn, grain sorghum, and cotton, most of our state experienced extreme weather systems, with excessive rain over a short period of time, severely diminishing production in prime agricultural areas,” said LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain. “This emergency declaration acknowledges those losses and opens the door for producers to access the resources they need to begin recovering from these weather challenges.”

Farmers have eight months from the date of the designation to apply for these emergency loans. Producers can contact their location FSA office for further information regarding eligibility requirements and application procedures.