Drought in 6 Louisiana Parishes Leads to Disaster Declarations

Six Louisiana parishes have been designated as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by recent drought.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the designation to Caldwell, Catahoula, Franklin, Madison, Richland and Tensas parishes on Nov. 23, making all qualified farm operators in those areas eligible for low interest emergency loans from the department’s Farm Service Agency.

Farmers and ranchers in the following Louisiana and Mississippi counties also qualify for assistance because their locations are contiguous. The Louisiana parishes are: Avoyelles, Jackson, Ouachita, Concordia, LaSalle, West Carroll, East Carroll, Morehouse and Winn. The Mississippi counties include Adams, Claiborne, Jefferson and Warren.

Farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for help.