By Ap/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – The state of Missouri is asking for federal money to bail out farmers from last month's floods.
Gov. Matt Blunt asked the Department of Agriculture to declare a federal disaster area in 29 western- and central-Missouri counties. Blunt says crops were damaged by water and fields littered with debris and silt.
The federal help would allow farmers to get money for lost potential income.
Last month, Blunt asked for federal assistance for residents and local governments in 26 counties. The latest request includes six counties that were not among the previous 26.
ILLINOIS DISASTER
Meanwhile, federal disaster assistance is now available for farmers and nursery owners in 81 of Illinois' 102 counties to help them recover from an April freeze that damaged crops.
The USDA has granted a request to designate 55 counties as natural disaster areas. Farmers are eligible for the aid in those counties, as well as in 26 contiguous counties, if they suffered crop losses from April 3-11. The aid includes low-interest emergency loans.
The declaration covers all of Illinois south of Interstate 80, except for Rock Island, Marshall, Putnam and Champaign counties.