The U.S. Department of Agriculture has
issued a natural disaster declaration for 21 western Kansas
counties ravaged by drought, wildfires and high wind since the
start of the year.
The declaration announced Tuesday makes affected farmers
eligible for aid including low-interest emergency loans from USDA’s
Farm Service Agency.
The Kansas counties are Finney, Gove, Grant, Greeley, Hamilton,
Haskell, Kearny, Lane, Logan, Meade, Morton, Ness, Scott, Seward,
Sheridan, Sherman, Stanton, Stevens, Thomas, Wallace, and Wichita.
Farmers and ranchers in contiguous counties in Kansas, Oklahoma
and Colorado also can qualify for help.
In Kansas, those counties are Cheyenne, Graham, Rawlins, Clark,
Gray, Rush, Decatur, Hodgeman, Trego, Ellis, Norton, Ford and
Pawnee.
In Colorado, Baca, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson and Prowers
counties will benefit. In Oklahoma, the affected counties are
Beaver, Cimarron and Texas.