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USDA Designates 13 Counties in Arkansas as Primary Natural Disaster Areas with

USDA Designates 13 Counties in Arkansas as Primary Natural Disaster Areas with Assistance to Producers in Surrounding States
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2017 — In response to a request from Clayton Parr, Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) acting State Executive Director in Arkansas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 13 counties in Arkansas as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:
Ashley Johnson Madison Scott
Chicot Little River Miller Sebastian
Crawford Logan Newton Washington
Franklin
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Arkansas also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Benton Desha Lafayette Searcy
Boone Drew Montgomery Sevier
Bradley Hempstead Polk Union
Carroll Howard Pope Yell

Farmers and ranchers in the following parishes in Louisiana, and counties in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their parishes and counties are contiguous. Those parishes and counties are:
Louisiana
Bossier, Caddo, East Carroll, Morehouse, Union and West Carroll
Mississippi
Bolivar, Issaquena and Washington
Oklahoma
Adair, Le Flore, McCurtain and Sequoyah
Texas
Bowie and Cass All parishes and counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Feb. 23, 2017, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for FSA’s emergency (EM) loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration 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 adversity.