Drought disaster map, (United States Department of Agriculture, Courtesy)
LEXINGTON — Dawson County, along with 11 others in the state were designated as primary natural disaster areas due to the ongoing drought by the United State Department of Agriculture.
The primary counites included in the designation include Blaine, Brown, Dawson, Deuel, Hooker, Kimball, Lincoln, Logan, McPherson, Platte, Rock and Thomas.
Contiguous counties include Arthur, Banner, Boone, Boyd, Buffalo, Butler, Cherry, Cheyenne, Colfax, Custer, Frontier, Garden, Gosper, Grant, Hayes, Holt, Keith, Keya Paha, Loup, Madison, Merrick, Nance, Perkins, Phelps, Polk and Stanton.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the 12 primary counties have suffered from a drought intensity of severe drought, D2, for eight or more consecutive weeks or are in extreme drought, D3, or D4, exceptional drought conditions.
According to the USDA, a disaster designation makes farm operators in the primary and contiguous counties eligible for to be considered for Farm Service Agency emergency loan assistance. Farmers have eight months from the date of the disaster declaration to apply for the emergency loans.
For more information, impacted farmers should contact local FSA offices.
