Half of US counties deemed 'natural disaster areas'

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/01/13070928-half-of-us-counties-deemed-natural-disaster-areas?lite

Aug. 1, 2012 By Miguel Llanos, NBC News

Just over half of the counties in the U.S. are now labeled "natural disaster areas" after the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday added 218 counties in 12 states to the list.

With drought drying up food crops and animal feedstock, the USDA also said it was allowing haying and grazing on 3.8 million protected acres, many of them wetlands, and that insurance companies agreed to a 30-day grace period for farmers on insurance premiums.