(FOX 56) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 57 Kentucky counties as natural disaster areas because of drought conditions.
The designation allows the USDA Farm Service Agency to provide emergency loans to agricultural producers recovering from natural disasters.
Emergency loans may be used for a variety of recovery needs, including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation, or refinancing certain debts.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the following counties experienced severe, extreme or exceptional drought conditions for eight or more consecutive weeks:
- Bell
- Boyle
- Breathitt
- Breckinridge
- Clay
- Clinton
- Cumberland
- Hardin
- Hart
- Jackson
- Knox
- Larue
- Laurel
- Lee
- McCreary
- Madison
- Mercer
- Metcalfe
- Nelson
- Owsley
- Perry
- Washington
- Whitley
Contiguous counties are also included, such as:
- Adair
- Anderson
- Barren
- Bullitt
- Casey
- Clark
- Edmonson
- Estill
- Fayette
- Garrard
- Grayson
- Green
- Hancock
- Harlan
- Jefferson
- Jessamine
- Knott
- Leslie
- Letcher
- Lincoln
- Magoffin
- Marion
- Meade
- Monroe
- Ohio,
- Powell
- Pulaski
- Rockwell
- Russell
- Spencer
- Taylor
- Wayne
- Wolfe
- Woodford
The FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability.