All 64 counties in Colorado and dozens across Arizona, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming have been declared primary natural disaster areas because of the ongoing drought.
The designation allows farmers to receive emergency loans to meet various recovery needs, including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation, or refinancing certain debts. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the counties listed in the declaration suffered from a drought intensity of D2 (severe drought) for eight or more consecutive weeks or suffered a drought intensity of D3 (extreme drought) or D4 (exceptional drought) during the growing season.
Producers can go to farmers.gov to access the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, the “Disaster Assistance Programs at a Glance” fact sheet and the Farm Loan Discovery Tool to determine program or loan options.
To file a Notice of Loss or ask questions about available programs, contact your local USDA Service Center.
