USDA Designates 2 South Dakota Counties as Primary Natural Disaster Areas for Drought

This Secretarial 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.

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.

Impacted Area: South Dakota

Triggering Disaster: Drought that occurred beginning 08/20/2024.

Application Deadline: 8 months from date the memo was signed (If the deadline date falls on a Sat. or Sun., make the deadline the following Monday. If the deadline date falls on a federal holiday, make it the next business day)

Primary Counties Eligible:

South Dakota - Custer and Pennington

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

South Dakota - Lawrence, Meade, Haakon, Jackson, Oglala Lakota, and Fall River

Additional State: Wyoming - Niobrara and Weston

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.