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USDA Designates 12 Counties in AZ as Primary Natural Disaster

Contact: Latawnya.Dia@wdc.usda.gov

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2018 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 12 counties in Arizona as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:

Apache	Gila	Maricopa	Pima
Cochise	Graham	Mohave	Pinal
Coconino	Greenlee	Navajo	Santa Cruz

Farmers and ranchers in the contiguous counties in La Paz, Yavapai and Yuma in Arizona also qualify for natural disaster assistance.

Farmers and ranchers in the contiguous counties in California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah also qualify for natural disaster assistance. Those counties are:

California
San Bernardino

Colorado
Montezuma

Nevada
Clark and Lincoln

New Mexico
Catron, Cibola, Grant, Hidalgo, McKinley and San Juan

Utah
Kane, San Juan and Washington

Qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA’s) emergency (EM) loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration of March 8, 2018, to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster.

Other FSA programs that can provide assistance, but do not require a disaster declaration, include: Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA service centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov/.

FSA news releases are available on FSA’s website at http://www.fsa.usda.gov/ via the “Newsroom” link.