USDA Designates 91 Texas Counties as a Primary Natural Disaster Area

This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. 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 to refinance certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability. 

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, these counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for 8 or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional. 

Impacted Area: Texas

Triggering Disaster: Drought (Fast Track) 

Application Deadline: November 25, 2024 

Primary Counties Eligible: 

Andrews	Angelina	Aransas	Atascosa	Austin
Bandera	Bastrop	Bee	Bell	Bexar
Blanco	Brewster	Burnet	Caldwell	Calhoun
Carson	Chambers	Childress	Clay	Colorado
Comal	Cooke	Coryell	Culberson	Deaf Smith
Denton	DeWitt	Ector	El Paso	Fayette
Fort Bend	Frio	Galveston	Gillespie	Goliad
Gonzales	Guadalupe	Hardeman	Hardin	Harris
Hays	Hudspeth	Jackson	Jasper	Jeff Davis
Jefferson	Karnes	Kendall	Kerr	Kimble
Lampasas	Lavaca	Lee	Liberty	Live Oak
Llano	Loving	Mason	Matagorda	Medina
Midland	Milam	Montague	Newton	Oldham
Orange	Panola	Parker	Parmer	Polk
Potter	Presidio	Randall	Real	Reeves
Refugio	Sabine	San Augustine	San Saba	Shelby
Tarrant	Travis	Tyler	Uvalde	Victoria
Washington	Wharton	Williamson	Wilson	Winkler
Wise

 Contiguous Counties Also Eligible: 

Archer	Armstrong	Bailey	Bosque	Brazoria
Brazos	Brown	Burleson	Castro	Cherokee
Collin	Collingsworth	Cottle	Crane	Dallas
Dawson	Dimmit	Donley	Duval	Edwards
Ellis	Erath	Falls	Foard	Gaines
Glasscock	Gray	Grayson	Grimes	Hall
Hamilton	Harrison	Hartley	Hood	Houston
Howard	Hutchinson	Jack	Jim Wells	Johnson
Kinney	Lamb	La Salle	McCulloch	McLennan
McMullen	Martin	Maverick	Menard	Mills
Montgomery	Moore	Nacogdoches	Nueces	Palo Pinto
Pecos	Reagan	Roberts	Robertson	Rusk
San Jacinto	San Patricio	Schleicher	Sutton	Swisher
Terrell	Trinity	Upton	Waller	Ward
Wichita	Wilbarger	Young	Zavala

 Louisiana: Beauregard, Caddo, Calcasieu, Cameron, De Soto, Sabine, and Vernon

New Mexico: Curry, Dona Ana, Eddy, Lea, Otero, Quay, and Roosevelt

Oklahoma: Cotton, Harmon, Jackson, Jefferson, Love, and Marshall 

More Resources

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Loan Assistance Tool can help you determine program or loan options. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local USDA Service Center.