Hays ? Farmers in 51 Kansas counties can soon sign up for disaster assistance from 2009.

Jan. 10 is the opening date for enrolling in the 2009 SURE — Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments — disaster program at Farm Service Agency offices.

The Hays Daily News reports that 58 other Kansas counties were declared disaster areas, or are contiguous to declared areas, in 2010, but enrollment in that program has not been announced.

The SURE program is one of five disaster programs included in the 2008 farm bill, and requires most farmers to purchase crop insurance to cover any losses. Generally, farmers don’t fully insure the crop because of the high cost.

Many of the counties are in central Kansas, where spring frost and heavy rains decimated the 2009 wheat crop.