DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin is urging U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to approve crop disaster relief for western Iowa in the wake of flooding along the Missouri River. Harkin, a Democrat, made his plea in a letter to Vilsack, a former Iowa governor. Harkin says a secretarial disaster designation would provide money from USDA programs, emergency loans and Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program to help producers recover from loss of crops and damage to farmland, livestock facilities and buildings.

Harkin says designated counties would include: Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Pottawattamie, and Woodbury. Gov. Terry Branstad recently began the process to secure a disaster designation.