As part of the Montana natural disaster designation, the four primary disaster counties are Big Horn, Carbon, Stillwater and Yellowstone and the contiguous counties are Golden Valley, Musselshell, Park, Powder River, Rosebud, Sweet Grass and Treasure. As part of the South Dakota designation, both Carter and Fallon were declared contiguous disaster areas. Both the Montana and South Dakota designations were a result of losses caused by drought, excessive heat, high winds, wildfires and insects beginning May 1 and continuing.

All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas May 8, 2013, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Agricultural producers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration, or until Jan. 8, 2014, to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FG

– From USDA news release