8 Arizona counties designated as drought disaster areas

PHOENIX – Farmers and ranchers across Arizona are eligible to seek federal assistance for losses related to drought after eight counties were declared primary national disaster areas on Monday.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated Maricopa, Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal and Yavapai counties as disaster areas because of the excessively dry conditions, according to a press release.

That means producers there can apply for Farm Service Agency emergency loans for items such as equipment or livestock or to refinance certain debts.

Farmers and ranchers in counties contiguous with the disaster areas are also eligible, which covers Arizona’s seven other counties: Apache, Coconino, La Paz, Mohave, Navajo, Santa Cruz and Yuma.

The application deadline is May 4, 2021. The maximum amount of an FSA emergency loan is $500,000.

Details about eligibility and how to apply are available on the U.S. Department of Agriculture website or by contacting Arizona’s FSA office.

Arizona is coming off the driest meteorological summer in history.

Earlier we gave you the bad news about the hottest all-time summer (Jun-Jul-Aug) in Arizona. Well, even worse news: it was also the driest summer on record in Arizona. Much of southern Arizona receives close to 50% of their annual average during the summer – not good. #azwx pic.twitter.com/0iB4BfGeLA

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) September 9, 2020

Meteorologists are expecting that to be followed by a dry winter brought on by an emerging La Nina weather pattern.

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