USDA Approves Disaster Loans for Drought-slammed Plains Counties

Farmers in 372 counties nationwide stretching from Texas and Kansas to California and Hawaii — roughly 1 in 7 counties nationwide — will be eligible for emergency loans after USDA designated them natural disaster areas because of persistent drought. In California alone, officials expanded drought declarations to 41 counties, including part of the Central Valley, and virtually the entire states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Wyoming are included in this week’s disaster declarations. Farmers in affected counties are now eligible for USDA emergency loans for replacing lost livestock, equipment or facing the need for financial reorganization stemming from the drought. To qualify, farmers must have purchased crop insurance and be able to demonstrate crop, livestock or property losses of at least 30%. See more on the declaration.