Feds to provide drought relief to Ky. farmers

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday it will provide financial assistance to Kentucky farmers whose crops have wilted under a prolonged drought that has expanded northward from the Deep South.

Farmers also will be eligible for loans if they suffered crop losses from high winds when the remnants of Hurricane Ike blew through the state in September.

Gov. Steve Beshear said the drought, now in its second year, has brought financial hardships to Kentucky.

"This disaster aid will help lessen the impact on our farm families and rural communities," he said.

The loans will be available to farmers in all 120 Kentucky counties.

Southeastern Kentucky is under "extreme drought" conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Others portions of the state were under mild to moderate drought conditions.

Retailers in the mountain region have been supplying bottled water to drought-stricken Magoffin County after the flow of its primary water source, the Licking River, slowed to a trickle. The county's school system is serving meals on disposable plates with plastic utensils. Lunch trays have been temporarily shelved to save on dishwashing.

Authorities have banned outdoor burning in 34 Kentucky counties to guard against forest fires in the mountainous eastern half of the state. On Wednesday, nearly a thousand acres of forest were burning, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a dense smoke advisory in Breathitt and Owsley counties.

Firefighters had contained the fire but expected it to smolder for several more days unless it rains.

Keys Arnold, a staff meteorologist at the University of Kentucky's agricultural weather center, said a cold front expected to cross the state Thursday is likely to bring a quarter-inch of rain, not nearly enough to offset the precipitation deficit.

"But any little bit helps at this point," Arnold said.

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