The United States Department of Agriculture recently designated 12 Nebraska counties as primary natural disaster areas due to the recent droughts. The details of the designation were shared by the Nebraska Emergency Management agency, which included a letter from the USDA to Governor Jim Pillen in addition to maps visualizing the designation.
In addition to the primary counties, 26 contiguous counties were named in the state in addition to three in Colorado and one in Wyoming.
Blaine, Thomas, Logan, Lincoln, and Dawson counties were all included on the ‘primary counties’ list. Custer, Loup, and Buffalo counties appeared on the ‘contiguous counties’ list.
In the letter to Governor Pillen, the US Drought Monitor indicated that the counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or 2) Extreme or exceptional drought.
The letter went on to explain that the Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those contiguous to the primary counties eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loan assistance, provided eligibility requirements are met.
The farmers in the eligible counties have eight months from the date of the Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for the emergency loans. Each loan application is considered on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator.
Impacted farmers are encouraged to contact their local FSA offices.
