USDA Designates 22 Missouri 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: Missouri

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: April 3, 2023

Primary Counties Eligible:

Barry                      Dallas                  Lawrence                                Stone

Barton                     Douglas               McDonald                                Taney

Butler                     Greene                 Newton                                Vernon

Cedar                      Hickory               Polk                                Webster

Christian                 Jasper                  St. Clair                                Wright

            Dade                       Laclede

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible: Missouri:

Bates                       Carter                  Howell                                Ripley                  Texas

Benton                    Dunklin               Ozark                                Stoddard              Wayne

            Camden                  Henry                   Pulaski

Arkansas: Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay and Marion

Kansas: Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford and Linn

Oklahoma: Delaware and Ottawa

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.