Counties designated as natural disaster areas for drought

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, seven Washington state counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of D2-Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or D3-Drought-Extreme or D4-Drought-Exceptional.

The primary counties eligible are Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas, Okanogan, Skagit, and Yakima counties The contiguous counties that are also eligible are Adams, Benton, Ferry, Franklin, Island, King, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Pierce, San Juan, Skamania, Snohomish, and Whatcom.

A secretarial natural disaster designation allows the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or to refinance certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability.

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Loan Assistance Tool can help you determine program or loan options. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local USDA Service Center.