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

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USDA Designates 29 Montana Counties as Primary 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 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, 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: Montana

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: Jan. 3, 2023

Primary Counties Eligible:

Montana:      

Beaverhead                        Golden ValleyPowder River
Big Horn        Jefferson                       Richland
Blaine                                Lewis and Clark Roosevelt
BroadwaterLiberty                       Rosebud
Carbon                               McCone                       Sheridan
Cascade                             Madison                       Stillwater
Chouteau                           Musselshell                       Teton
Daniels                              Daniels                              Toole
FergusPhillips                                           Valley
Garfield                             Pondera                                                 

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

Montana:

Carter                                 Gallatin               Park                                           Sweet Grass
Custer                                Glacier                                           Powell                                           Treasure
Dawson                              Hill                                           Prairie                                           Wheatland
Deer Lodge  Judith Basin  Ravalli                                           Wibaux
Flathead                             Meagher                                           Silver Bow   Yellowstone

Idaho: Clark, Fremont and Lemhi
North Dakota: Divide, McKenzie and Williams
Wyoming: Big Horn, Campbell, Crook, Park and Sheridan

More Resources
On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery ToolDisaster 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.

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