U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue designated 12 Missouri counties as primary natural disaster areas due to drought.
Producers in Audrain, Barry, Barton, Boone, Callaway, Cooper, Dade, Jasper, Lawrence, Moniteau, Monroe and Newton counties who suffered losses due to recent drought may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.
Additionally, agricultural producers in counties contiguous to the 12 disaster area counties are also eligible for emergency loans.
This includes farmers in Christian County.
As of Aug. 28, the U.S. Drought monitor indicated that all of Christian County is in a case of “Severe Drought,” a drought status that has crept from west to east across the county map through the month of August.
This designation by Perdue allows the Farm Service Agency to extend emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters.
Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation or refinance certain debts.