USDA Designates Nine New Mexico Counties as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Emergency Support to Producers in Surrounding Counties/Border States Also Available

WASHINGTON, March 18, 2020 — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated nine New Mexico counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Colfax, Harding, McKinley, Mora, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Juan, Taos, and Union counties who suffered losses due to recent drought may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.

This natural disaster designation 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 the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of certain debts.

Producers in the contiguous New Mexico counties of Bernalillo, Cibola, Los Alamos, Quay, San Miguel, and Santa Fe, along with Apache County, Arizona; Archuleta, Baca, Conejos, Costilla, La Plata, Las Animas, and Montezuma counties in Colorado; Cimarron County, Oklahoma; Dallam and Hartley counties in Texas; and San Juan County, Utah, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is Nov. 7, 2020.

FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

FSA has a variety of additional programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; 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 farmers.gov/recover.