MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture Rick Pate announced Friday that 19 counties are being designated by the US Department of Agriculture as primary natural disaster areas due to the recent drought.
The counties included in the disaster designation are Barbour, Bibb, Butler, Chambers, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Monroe, Pickens, Pike, Shelby and Tuscaloosa.
“The drought severely affected several Alabama counties, impacting row-crop yields and forage availability,” said Pate. “Many cattle producers were unable to harvest sufficient hay for the winter months, which resulted in the need to provide supplemental alternative feed sources earlier in the fall.”
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the counties suffered a drought for more than eight weeks ranging in intensity from severe to extreme and exceptional.
The disaster designation allows farm operators in primary counties and those counties that are contiguous to the primary counties to be eligible for consideration for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loan assistance.
The contiguous counties include Baldwin, Bullock, Chilton, Clarke, Colbert, Coosa, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Perry, Randolph, Russell, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Walker and Wilcox.
Eligible farmers have eight months, until Aug. 29, 2026, to apply for emergency loans.
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