USDA designates 12 Nebraska counties as primary natural disaster areas

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated 12 Nebraska counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Deuel, Garden, Madison, Morrill, Pierce, Platte, Scotts Bluff , Sheridan and Wayne counties who suffered losses caused by recent drought may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency emergency loans.

This natural disaster designation allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. 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 the refinance of certain debts.

Producers in the contiguous counties listed below are also eligible to apply for emergency loans: Nebraska: Antelope, Arthur, Boone, Butler, Cedar, Cherry, Colfax, Cuming, Dawes, Dixon, Grant, Keith, Kimball, Knox, Merrick, Nance, Perkins, Polk, Sheridan, Sioux, Stanton and Thurston

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is June 14, 2021.

FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

FSA has a variety of additional programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; and the Tree Assistance Program.

Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at farmers.gov/recover.

Stay in the know!

To get news alerts on your cell phone, get the Cedar County News app in the ITunes store or  in the Google Play Store.