WASHINGTON, — In response to a request from Jamie White, Farm Service Agency’s acting state executive director in South Dakota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Aurora, Charles Mix and Gregory counties in South Dakota as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought as of Aug 14.

In response to a request from Brian Haugen, FSA’s acting state executive director in North Dakota, USDA has designated Burke, Lamoure and Renville counties in North Dakota as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought as of Aug. 3.

Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in South Dakota also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are: Bon Homme, Douglas, Lyman, Brule, Hutchinson, Sanborn, Davison, Jerauld and Tripp.

Farmers and ranchers in Boyd, Keya Paha and Knox counties in Nebraska also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.

In North Dakota those counties are Barnes, Bottineau, Dickey, Divide, Logan, McHenry, McIntosh, Mountrail, Ransom, Stutsman, Ward and Williams.

In response to a request from Jamie White, Farm Service Agency’s acting State Executive Director in South Dakota, USDA has designated Butte County in South Dakota as primary natural disaster area due to a recent drought as of Aug. 25.

Farmers and ranchers in Harding, Lawrence, Meade and Perkins counties in South Dakota also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.

Farmers and ranchers in Carter County in Montana and Crook County in Wyoming also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.

All counties designated natural disaster areas are eligible for FSA’s emergency loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.

Other FSA programs that can provide assistance, but do not require a disaster declaration, include Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA service centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov. ❖