USDA Designates Several Nebraska Counties as Natural Disaster Areas

(LINCOLN, Nebraska - Aug. 16, 2022) This stakeholder notification represents four separate Secretarial natural disaster designations and one Administrator’s Physical Loss Notification.

Such designations allow 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 the refinance of 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, counties listed in four of these designations 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. The triggering disaster for the Administrator’s Physical Loss Notification was tornado, excessive rain, hail, high winds and lightning.

Secretarial Disaster Designation No. 5217: Primary counties eligible in Nebraska: Adams, Clay, Deuel and Keith; Contiguous counties also eligible in Nebraska: Arthur, Buffalo, Cheyenne, Fillmore, Garden, Hall, Hamilton, Kearney, Lincoln, McPherson, Nuckolls, Perkins, Webster and York; Application deadline is Feb. 13, 2023.

Secretarial Disaster Designation No. 5219: Primary counties eligible are located in South Dakota. Contiguous counties also eligible in Nebraska are: Cedar, Dakota, Dixon and Knox; Application deadline is Feb. 13, 2023.

Secretarial Disaster Designation No. 5223: Primary counties eligible are located in Wyoming. Contiguous counties also eligible in Nebraska are: Banner, Scotts Bluff and Sioux; Application deadline is Feb. 27, 2023.

Secretarial Disaster Designation No. 5228: Primary counties eligible are located in Wyoming. Contiguous counties also eligible in Nebraska are: Banner and Kimball; Application deadline is March 1, 2023.

Administrator’s Physical Loss Notification No. 1601: Primary counties eligible are located in Kansas. Contiguous counties also eligible in Nebraska are: Gage and Pawnee; Application deadline is July 31, 2023.

More Resources

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery 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.