Drought disaster declaration extended to 19 Montana counties

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated four more Montana counties as primary natural disaster areas due to crop losses caused by drought.

The addition of Jefferson, Madison, Teton and Toole counties Wednesday brings to 19 the total number of Montana counties declared natural disaster areas. On July 15, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack designated Beaverhead, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Glacier, Granite, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Linclon, Mineral, Missoula, Pondera, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders and Silver Bow counties as primary natural disaster areas.

The federal disaster designation opens the door for qualified farmers and ranchers to obtain emergency loans through the Farm Service Agency. Farmers and ranchers in 11 additional “contiguous” counties may also be eligible for emergency loans, which can be used to pay production costs, family living expenses or to help refinance debt.

Producers have up to eight months from the date of their county’s disaster declaration to apply for an emergency loan with FSA. The disaster declaration also entitles existing FSA borrowers to a disaster set-aside, deferring one annual loan payment to the end of their loan repayment period. Producers apply for this option through the farm loan office servicing their loan.

According to Jennifer Cole, spokeswoman for the Montana FSA, the emergency loan program has not been widely popular in Montana. On average, the Montana FSA receives less than 10 emergency loan applications each year.

Perhaps more significant than the availability of emergency loans, the Montana FSA state office has expanded this year’s Livestock Forage Disaster Program to include producers in all 19 primary disaster area counties.

Under the Livestock Forage Disaster Program, qualified livestock producers are eligible for compensation payments for grazing losses on improved pasture or federally managed rangeland. Throughout the 2013-2014 biennium, LFP paid out about $60 million to producers from drought-affected counties.

“We are really pushing for producers to take advantage of the Livestock Forage Program and all the programs that are available,” Cole said.

Producers have until Feb. 1, 2016, to submit a completed application, including support documentation, to be eligible for payments through the LFP. For assistance with FSA programs, producers should contact the local FSA service center office.

“Folks who need hay should get in and get their application in,” Cole said. “Then they can get paid and that’s going to help them right away.”