Farmers and ranchers across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas and Texas now have access to emergency federal loans after the U.S. Department of Agriculture designated dozens of counties in those four states as natural disaster areas because of severe drought. The designation opens the door to USDA Farm Service Agency assistance for producers who lost livestock, watched equipment sit idle, or fell behind on farm debt during one of the driest stretches the region has seen in recent memory.
The declaration, reported by the Oklahoma Farm Report, lists Oklahoma counties including Atoka, Coal, Johnston, Le Flore, Marshall, Osage, Sequoyah and Washington among those designated. A longer roster of additional eligible Oklahoma counties includes Adair, Bryan, Carter, Cherokee, Choctaw, Haskell, Hughes, Kay, Latimer, Love, McCurtain, Murray, Muskogee, Noble, Nowata, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pushmataha, Rogers and Tulsa.
In Arkansas, the eligible counties are Crawford, Polk, Scott and Sebastian, according to the same report. Kansas producers in Chautauqua, Cowley and Montgomery counties also qualify, while Grayson County is the sole Texas county named in the designation.
What the Emergency Loans Can Cover
USDA's Farm Service Agency offers emergency loans to eligible producers hit by drought, and the money is not limited to a single use. Funds can go toward replacing lost livestock or essential equipment, refinancing farm debt, or restructuring an operation so it can survive another difficult year, the outlet's report states.
Producers have until June 21, 2027 to apply for assistance, per the Oklahoma Farm Report's account of the designation. That same deadline surfaced in a separate disaster designation covering 49 Mississippi counties and one Louisiana parish, which KNOE reported a day earlier, underscoring how widespread this round of drought relief has become.
Not every applicant will automatically qualify, though. The Farm Service Agency evaluates loan applications based on actual losses, available security and a realistic repayment path, the Oklahoma Farm Report noted, meaning producers will need documentation of their losses before funds materialize.
A Pattern Repeating Across the Plains
This is not the first drought-driven designation to hit the region this year. Back in July, USDA opened emergency loans for Woods County, Oklahoma, and neighboring areas, including Alfalfa, Harper, Major and Woodward counties in Oklahoma and Barber and Comanche counties in Kansas, after drought conditions there too, according to a prior report from the Oklahoma Farm Report. The latest designation suggests the dry conditions have since spread well beyond that initial pocket of counties.
Federal guidance from the USDA Farm Service Agency lays out the threshold for these designations: counties can qualify after experiencing severe (D2) drought for at least eight consecutive weeks during the growing season, or after reaching extreme (D3) or exceptional (D4) drought levels. Beyond emergency loans, Farmers.gov has noted that drought-hit producers may also have access to crop-insurance indemnity payments, the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program for crops without coverage, and other direct or guaranteed operating loans and loan-servicing options for those who qualify.
Where Producers Can Get Help
Producers looking to start the process can contact their local USDA Service Center to file a notice of loss or ask about available programs, according to guidance from Farmers.gov. The agency's website also offers a disaster assistance discovery tool and a loan assistance tool to help producers figure out what they might be eligible for before they apply.
