USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has declared four separate disaster declarations in Illinois.

The designations cover drought and tornadoes that occured in the spring of this year.

Sangamon County is included in the tornadoes and high winds that occurred on March 31st through April 5th. Several area counties were listed in that declaration.

Several counties to the south are included in a drought disaster declaration.

A tornado that happned April 4th includes Fulton, Peoria, and Tazwell as part of that declaration.

And the March 31st tornado covers counties farther north and east.

The declarations mean the USDA Farm Service Agency is authorized to provide emergency loands to producers recovering from those disasters. Farmers are urged to call their USDA Service Center to ask questions of file a Notice of Loss.