Hollister
– The United States Department of Agriculture declared San
Benito County a federal disaster area again Wednesday – this time
because of drought conditions – making ranchers and growers
eligible for emergency loans.
Hollister – The United States Department of Agriculture declared San Benito County a federal disaster area again Wednesday – this time because of drought conditions – making ranchers and growers eligible for emergency loans.
In April, San Benito County hit a drought, its first in 15 years. Hollister received 60 percent of its average rainfall in the 2006-07 rain season, according to the National Weather Service. In May, the county was declared a disaster area because of a record-setting freeze at the beginning of the year.
For those eligible, including ranchers and growers dependent on rain to irrigate crops, low-interest emergency USDA loans will be made available.
Tom Tobias, former president of the San Benito County Farm Bureau, said local ranchers have struggled with the lack of rain.
“It’s been kind of a rough go, to tell the truth,” Tobias said. “It’s the worst year we’ve ever had.”
Dry conditions have forced some ranchers to sell livestock prematurely, San Benito County Agricultural Commissioner Paul Matulich said. Matulich wrote the governor’s office to lobby for the federal disaster designation.
Matulich said 2007 should show positive gains for ranchers, but he expects a loss in 2008 for county cattlemen.
In 2006, San Benito County cattle were valued at $21 million, an increase of $5 million from 2005, according to the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.
The emergency loans could be used for supplemental feed, Matulich said.
“I think it’s going to be mainly for feed, to help subsidize your feed because of no grass,” Matulich said.
Supplemental feed keeps ranchers from having to sell off the herd when pasture land goes dry, allowing them to avoid fluctuating prices, Tobias said.
“It keeps the highs and lows out of the system,” Tobias said.
So far, the loans do not seem to have piqued local growers’ interest, said Jeannine Leyva, the county’s executive director for the USDA Service Center. Leyva said no eligible growers applied for loans from the county’s federal disaster designation in May.
“I’m not aware of anyone applying,” Leyva said. “We’ve had others apply in the past, but it’s limited.”
Tobias, however, said he believes local cattlemen will be interested in the loans.
“Most county ranchers will try to take advantage of the government assistance,” Tobias said.
Interest rates may be as low as 3.75 percent for those who are eligible, Leyva said.
Even if local ranchers don’t apply for loans now, the designation could help San Benito County in the future if legislators approve bills containing disaster relief funds, Leyva said.
“It might bring more programs to help the affected,” Leyva said.
