Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated eight counties in Kansas as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Atchison, Graham, Lane, Marshall, Nemaha, Scott, Sherman and Washington counties who suffered losses due to drought, hail, high winds, excessive rain, flooding or lightning, may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.

This designation by Secretary Perdue allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers 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.

Drought Designation #1

Producers who suffered losses from the recent drought in Atchison County, Kansas, may apply for an emergency loan to help cover part of their actual losses.

Producers in the contiguous counties of Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, Jefferson, and Leavenworth in Kansas, along with Buchanan and Platte counties in Missouri, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.

Drought Designation #2

Producers who suffered losses from the recent drought in Marshall, Nemaha and Washington counties in Kansas may apply for an emergency loan to help cover part of their actual losses.

Producers in the contiguous counties of Brown, Clay, Cloud, Jackson, Pottawatomie, Republic and Riley in Kansas, along with Gage, Jefferson, Pawnee, Richardson and Thayer counties in Nebraska, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.

Hail and High Winds

Lane and Scott County, Kansas, producers who suffered losses from hail and high winds that occurred on May 14, 2018, may apply for an emergency loan to help cover part of their actual losses.

Producers in the contiguous counties of Finney, Gove, Kearny, Logan, Ness and Wichita in Kansas are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.

Excessive Rain, Flooding, Flash Flooding, High Winds, Hail and Lightning

Graham and Sherman County, Kansas, producers who suffered losses from excessive rain, flash flooding, flooding, high winds, hail and lightning that occurred May 28 through July 30, 2018, may apply for an emergency loan to help cover part of their actual losses.

Producers in the contiguous counties of Cheyenne, Gove, Logan, Norton, Phillips, Rawlins, Rooks, Sheridan, Thomas, Trego and Wallace in Kansas, along with Kit Carson County in Colorado, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is April 22, 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 Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree Assistance Program.

Farmers may contact their local USDA service center 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.