USDA designates 39 more counties as disaster areas
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack designated 39 additional counties in eight states on July 18 as primary natural disaster areas due to damage and losses caused by drought and excessive heat. 

During the 2012 crop year, the USDA has designated 1,297 counties across 29 states as disaster areas, making all qualified farm operators in the areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans. The U.S. Drought Monitor reported last week that 61 percent of the continental United States is in a moderate to exceptional drought.

Earlier in the week, USDA also designated the entire state of Missouri a disaster area due to drought, in response to a request from its governor.

Primary counties and designated as disaster areas in this region include: Indiana’s Bartholomew, Brown, Clay, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Monroe, Morgan, Owen, Parke, Putnam and Shelby; and Tennessee’s Shelby and Tipton.

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Record soy prices because of the punishing drought in America’s heartland has been a boon for Argentina, where the government expects to collect billions in new revenues. Corn and wheat prices also are soaring, with world supplies extremely tight amid insatiable Chinese demand.

Argentine soy producers still have a third of their last harvest in silos and expect windfall profits, with soy selling at $618.50 a ton. Argentina’s budget was based on soy selling at $440 a ton, and the government now expects major new revenues from its 35-percent take in export taxes.

Argentina Rural Society President Hugo Biolcati accused the government Thursday of strangling the farm sector with confiscatory taxes so agriculture can subsidize runaway spending.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio officials are using a new survey to help assess damage caused by drought conditions in the state. The Ohio Farm Bureau is asking participants about crop and livestock conditions, water supplies and the expected economic impact on individual farms.

Officials also have launched a resources webpage for farmers. The survey is gauging interest from farmers on government disaster programs, as well as seeking suggestions. The resources page includes streaming information from government sources and others, including farmers documenting the drought on social media.

The survey is available online and is being distributed in the July issue of the Farm Bureau’s newspaper.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Hot weather is creating plenty of Indiana sweet corn from irrigated farms, but a Purdue University expert says the drought might shrink the supply over the long term.

Purdue extension horticulture specialist Liz Maynard said high temperatures cause sweet corn to mature faster. Plantings that would normally take about another week to mature were ready last week.

But Maynard said farmers without irrigation are likely to have serious losses in yields, and even irrigation might not provide enough water for a crop. She said it’s unclear how the supply will affect sweet corn prices.