2006 Montana Natural Disaster Determinations (pdf)
Correspondence to Government
NEWS
Farm Service Agency
Public Affairs Staff
1400 Independence Ave SW
Stop 0506, Room 3624-South
Washington, D.C. 20250-0506
Release No. 1570.06
Latawnya Dia (202) 720-7962
USDA Designates Big Horn County, Montana, a Primary natural disaster area
Decision allows farmers and ranchers to apply for USDA assistance
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2006 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Big Horn county a primary natural disaster area due to losses caused by ongoing drought, fire, hail, excessive heat, hot winds, insects and late freezing temperatures that occurred Jan. 1, 2006, and continuing.
Also eligible because they are contiguous counties are Carbon, Powder, River, Rosebud, Treasure and Yellowstone counties.
In addition, Big Horn and Sheridan counties in the adjacent state of Wyoming are also eligible because they are contiguous.
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Oct. 31, 2006, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible 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 extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.
USDA has also made other programs available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Emergency Conservation Program, Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster 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:
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area=home&subject=diap&topic=landing.
FSA news releases and media advisories are available on FSA’s Web site at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov.
National Drought Disaster Correspondence
The following PDF files are correspondence from Governor Brian Schweitzer to USDA Secretary Mike Johanns for requests for National Drought Disaster declarations and assistance.
Stillwater County
Powder River and Custer Counties
Hill, Roosevelt, Prairie, Rosebud, Richland and Valley Counties
Big Horn County – 
Letter from USDA Secretary Mike Johanns proclaiming Big Horn County a primary natural disaster area
Sheridan, Golden Valley, Sweet Grass, Blaine, Yellowstone, Daniels and Dawson Counties
Carbon County
Carter County
Garfield County
McCone County
Phillips County
