County Lifts Burn Ban

WATER VALLEY – A county-wide burn ban enacted June 28 has been lifted. Supervisors made the move during the “first Monday” meeting in Water Valley on August 6 following a recommendation from EMA Director Frank Hyde.
    “Due to the weather and rain we got, I think we need to lift the ban,” Hyde told supervisors, although he added it could be reinstated depending on the weather in August.
    “I would like to thank all of the citizens. Once we put it in effect, we have had very few fires. What few we did have were small ones and most of them were not aware of the ban,” Hyde said.
    Extreme heat coupled with little rain in June prompted the burn ban, which also included more than a dozen counties in north Mississippi. The conditions also prompted the Department of Agriculture to declare Yalobusha one of 10 counties in north Mississippi as part of a natural disaster area.
    With the declaration, emergency loans for farmers, ranchers and operators are available through the  Farm Service Agency. Applications for assistance in the disaster-stricken county will be accepted by FSA through March 18, 2013.
    Farmers qualifying for emergency loans may borrow up to 100 percent of their actual production loss or the amount needed to restore their operation to its pre-disaster condition, whichever is less.
    The new emergency loan and outstanding principal balance of any existing emergency loan owed by the applicant or any individual member of an entity cannot exceed $500,000.
    FSA emergency loans cover losses from designated disasters and are made to qualified farmers who cannot obtain credit from other lenders in the local area.