USDA designates 60 Texas counties as primary natural disaster areas

AMARILLO, Texas (KVII) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared an agriculture disaster because of a recent drought in four states.

According to the USDA, counties from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are designated as primary natural disaster areas.

In Texas, 60 counties are listed as primary natural disaster areas. The Texas Panhandle accounts for 19 of these counties. They include:

• Armstrong
• Briscoe
• Carson
• Castro
• Childress
• Collingsworth
• Cottle
• Dallam
• Deaf Smith
• Donley
• Gray
• Hall
• Hansford
• Hartley
• Hemphill
• Hutchinson
• Lipscomb
• Moore
• Ochiltree

Farmers and ranchers in bordering counties, including some from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma, also qualify for natural disaster assistance, if farmers can prove they sustained losses from the drought.

Counties in New Mexico that qualify are:

• Curry
• Quay
• Roosevelt
• Union

Counties in Oklahoma that qualify are:

• Beaver
• Cimarron
• Texas

For a full list of all Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma counties, click here.

Farmers in eligible counties and parishes have until November to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. The Farm Service Agency will consider each loan application on its own merits and take into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment availability.

FSA has a variety of programs, including the EM loan program, that would help eligible farmers recover from disaster impacts.