Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
This graph depicts the levels of drought around Wyoming as provided by the Western Regional Climate Center.
BIG HORN BASIN - U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated six Wyoming counties as primary natural disaster areas.
Producers in Big Horn, Hot Springs, Johnson, Natrona, Sheridan and Washakie counties who suffered losses due to the 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.
The Washakie County Commissioners sent a letter requesting a drought declaration. On Tuesday, the commissioners said they are pleased that there will be aid provided to area ag producers.
In the letter dated July 31, the commissioners stated that Washakie County entered drought status on June 9 and since that time "drought conditions have continued to worsen. A large portion of the county entered D2 drought intensity on July 21 and as of July 28, the county was designated as a D3 drought intensity."
According to the commissioners' letter, "extensive rangeland and crop damage has been caused to public and private property within the declaration area. The [Natural Resources Conservation Service] has identified some sites in the county having up to a 63% loss of production ...
"The dry autumn, 2019 and winter/spring, and 2020 had a negative impact on annual brome germination and establishment.
The Hot Springs County Commissioners approved a resolution on Aug. 4 in support of a drought declaration and declaring the county as an Agri-Business Disaster Area. According to the resolution, "Hot Spring's agricultural community is suffering a critical impairment of its operation caused by a drought, the cost of support to the agricultural community is in excess of county resources available, and the current drought conditions are predicted to worsen and to continue for the foreseeable future, and the long-term impacts of the drought cannot yet be fully determined."
According to the National Weather Service climate records based on information from the weather station at Worland Municipal Airport, Worland has received 2.6 inches of precipitation this year and 1.01 inches since June 1. The normal value since January is 5.45 inches, with is nearly 3 inches departure from normal. There is nearly an inch and a half departure from normal since June 1 through Aug. 31 with the normal precipitation at 2.29 inches.
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 the refinance of certain debts.
Producers in the contiguous Wyoming counties of Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Fremont and Park along with Big Horn, Carbon, and Powder River counties in Montana, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is April 26, 2021.
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.
