USDA Designates Twenty Arkansas Counties as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

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 the refinance of 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: Arkansas

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: April 3, 2023

Primary Counties Eligible:

Benton                    Conway               Lawrence                   Pope

Boone                     Faulkner              Madison                     Searcy

Carroll                    Independence      Marion                        Stone

Clay                        Izard                  Newton                       Van Buren

Cleburne                 Johnson              Polk                            Washington

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

Arkansas:

Baxter                    Greene                 Montgomery               Scott

Craighead               Howard                Perry                          Sevier

Crawford                Jackson                Pike                            Sharp

Franklin                  Logan                  Pulaski                        White

Fulton                     Lonoke                Randolph                     Yell

Missouri: Barry, Butler, Dunklin, McDonald, Ozark, Ripley, Stone and Taney

Oklahoma: Adair, Delaware, Le Flore and McCurtain

More Resources
On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery 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.