The United States Department of Agriculture has designated eight counties in Arizona as Primary Natural Disaster Areas, which allows the extension of emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters, such as the ongoing drought

The eligible counties are: Apache, Cochise, Coconino, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Mohave and Navajo. Contiguous counties also are eligible, including: Gila, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai and Yuma.

 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 8 or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.

The application deadline for the loans is Dec. 8, 2022. Please go to Farmers.gov, which has the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool and Farm Loan Discovery Tool to help determine what programs or loan options you may qualify for at this time.