(BATON ROUGE)---Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Mike Strain says that farmers in all 64 of Louisiana's parishes are now eligible for disaster assistance due to losses sustained during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

On the Northshore, all five parishes are in the declaration, but not all were part of the "primary disaster" area portion. Dr. Strain says that farmers in Livingston, St. Helena, and Tangipahoa Parishes are part of the 52 parishes declared a "primary natural disaster" area. He adds that St. Tammany and Washington Parishes are in the 12 parish group said to be in a "contiguous natural disaster" area.

Dr. Strain adds that under the federal declaration, farmers in both groups are now eligible for consideration for disaster aid from the Farm Service Agency. The FSA is a part of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Strain says that farmers should go to their local FSA office to begin the registration process. He adds that he hoped a larger package would have been passed by Congress, but it now appears that won't happen until possibly after the elections in November.

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