(Undated) -- Four area counties are among 15 declared agricultural disaster areas by U.S. Ag Secretary Thomas Vilsack.

The designation includes Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Ocean Counties. The designation for these and 10 other counties is blamed primarily on excessively wet weather that caused crop damage throughout the past growing season. The final county included in the designation, Sussex County, suffered heavy crop and farm losses in a tornado on June 29th.

The disaster designation covers losses from April 15 to the present and continuing. The designation makes farm operators in both primary and contiguous counties eligible to be considered for assistance from Farm Service Agency, provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program.

The loans could cover up to 100 percent of the dollar value of the losses. Farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans. Farmers must have suffered a 30 percent loss in crop production or physical loss to livestock, inventory or property and meet FSA’s eligibility requirements. FSA considers each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.