USDA Designates 12 Nebraska Counties as Natural Disaster Areas Due to 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 8 or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.

Impacted Area: Nebraska

Triggering Disaster: Drought (Fast Track)

Application Deadline: 03/16/2026

Primary Counties Eligible:
State: Nebraska: Counties include Butler, Fillmore, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hayes, Hitchcock, Phelps, Polk, Red Willow, Seward and York

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:State: Nebraska: Counties include Buffalo, Chase, Clay, Colfax, Dawson, Dodge, Dundy, Franklin, Hamilton, Harlan, Jefferson, Kearney, Lancaster, Lincoln, Merrick, Nuckolls, Perkins, Platte, Saline, Saunders, and Thayer

State: Kansas: Counties include Decatur, Norton and Rawlins