USDA Designates Five Montana Counties as Natural Disaster Areas

Sep 11, 2026

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: Montana

Triggering Disaster: Drought (Fast-Track)

Application Deadline: April 26, 2027

Primary Counties Eligible: Custer, Fallon, Garfield, Rosebud, and Treasure

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

Montana: Big Horn, Carter, McCone, Musselshell, Petroleum, Phillips, Powder River, Prairie, Valley, Wibaux, and Yellowstone
North Dakota: Bowman, Golden Valley, and Slope
South Dakota: Harding

Source : usda.gov

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In this episode, Lyle Cowell is joined by Dr. Erin Daly from the University of Guelph to break down denitrification and the conditions that drive nitrogen loss in the soil. They explore how nitrogen can be lost as nitrous oxide and nitrogen gas, what conditions drive losses and when they are most likely to occur.

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