USDA has announced that Hill County in Montana has been designated as a primary disaster area due to damages and losses caused by frost, hail and high winds that occurred July 4, 2015 through July 5, 2015.

Farmers and ranchers in Blaine, Chouteau and Liberty counties in Montana also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous. All counties listed were designated natural disaster areas on Feb. 17, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency loans from USDA's Farm Service Agency.

Four Montana counties are now eligible for emergency loan assistance as a result of a 2015 two-day hail and weather event. (Photo: Mary Burrows, Montana State University, bugwood.org)

Farmers must still meet eligibility requirements to get the loans but farmers in the listed counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extend of losses, security available and repayment ability.

FSA has several programs in addition to the emergency loan program to help eligible farmers recover from this situation.

Other FSA programs that can provide assistance, but do not require a disaster declaration, include the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

Source: Montana FSA