On April 16, 2025, the USDA designated seven Nebraska counties as primary natural disaster areas due to ongoing drought conditions, including Banner, Box Butte, Cherry, Dawes, Scotts Bluff, Sheridan and Sioux County.
This 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. The deadline for producers to apply for this assistance is Dec. 9, 2025.
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 eight or more consecutive weeks or (2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.
Contiguous counties also eligible for assistance include:
- Nebraska: Counties include Blaine, Brown, Cheyenne, Garden, Grant, Hooker, Keya Paha, Kimball, Morrill, Thomas
- South Dakota: Counties include Bennett, Fall River, Oglala Lakota, Todd, Tripp
- Wyoming: Counties include Goshen, Laramie, Niobrara
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.
