USDA Designates Four Colorado Counties as Disaster Areas, Assistance Available
In response to a request from Jenny Peterson, Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) acting State Executive Director in Colorado, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated Baca, Elbert, Lincoln and Weld counties in Colorado as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by a recent drought.
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Colorado also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
| Adams | Crowley | Las Animas |
| Arapahoe | Douglas | Logan |
| Bent | El Paso | Morgan |
| Boulder | Kiowa | Prowers |
| Broomfield | Kit Carson | Pueblo |
| Cheyenne | Larimer | Washington |
The Small Business Administration also has disaster assistance for businesses in the imapcted areas.
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. Those counties are:
Kansas
Morton and Stanton
Nebraska
Kimball
New Mexico
Union
Oklahoma
Cimarron
Wyoming
Laramie
All 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.
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.
