USDA Designates 126 Georgia Counties as Natural Disaster Areas

This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) 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. 

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, these counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for 8 or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.

Impacted Area: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee 

Triggering Disaster:Drought (Fast-Track) that began December 15, 2025

Application Deadline: December 10, 2026

Primary Counties Eligible: 

• Georgia: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Banks, Barrow, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Calhoun, Camden, Candler, Catoosa, Charlton, Chatham, Chattahoochee, Clarke, Clay, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Fannin, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Glascock, Glynn, Grady, Greene, Gwinnett, Hall, Hancock, Harris, Hart, Houston, Irwin, Jackson, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lamar, Lanier, Laurens, Lee, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Lumpkin, McDuffie, McIntosh, Macon, Madison, Marion, Meriwether, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Murray, Muscogee, Oconee, Oglethorpe, Peach, Pierce, Pulaski, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Stephens, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Towns, Treutlen, Troup, Turner, Twiggs, Union, Upson, Walker, Walton, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, White, Whitfield, Wilcox, Wilkes, Wilkinson, and Worth

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

• Georgia: Baldwin, Butts, Chattooga, Cherokee, Coweta, Dade, Dawson, DeKalb, Floyd, Fulton, Gordon, Habersham, Heard, Jasper, Jones, Newton, Pickens, Pike, Putnam, Rabun, Richmond, Rockdale, and Spalding

• Alabama: Barbour, Chambers, DeKalb, Henry, Houston, Lee, Randolph, and Russell

• Florida: Columbia, Gadsden, Hamilton, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Nassau

• North Carolina: Cherokee, Clay