Dallas, Denton, Parker, Tarrant and Wise counties also have been declared primary natural disaster areas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
On Friday, Aug. 17, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the designation.
Farmers and ranches in those counties who suffered losses due to drought may be eligible for USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.
This designation by Perdue allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to farmers and ranchers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs, including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation or refinance certain debts.
Farmers and ranchers in the contiguous counties of Collin, Cooke, Ellis, Grayson, Hood, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Montague, Palo Pinto and Rockwall are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is April 8, 2019.
FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
FSA has a variety of addition programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; The Emergency Conservation Program, Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree Assistance Program.
Contact the 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 https://www.farmers.gov/recover.