USDA declares drought emergency in 15 more Montana counties
July 7, 2021 GMT
HELENA, Mont. (AP) The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared Tuesday a drought disaster in 15 additional Montana counties, bringing the number of counties in a declared disaster to 31 of Montana’s 56 counties.
The declaration makes farms in the affected area eligible for emergency loans and other federal assistance. It comes after Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a statewide drought emergency last week and requested that the Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declare a federal emergency in the entire state.
“I appreciate Secretary Vilsack responding to my request and designating additional Montana counties as natural disaster areas, but there’s more USDA needs to do now to help our ag producers,” Gianforte said in a statement. “With every region of the state facing severe to extreme drought conditions, I continue to call on USDA to declare the entire state a drought disa
Montana
United-states
Sweet-grass
Tom-vilsack
Greg-gianforte
Us-department-of-agriculture
Department-of-agriculture
Farm-service-agency
Agriculture-secretary-tom-vilsack
Secretary-vilsack
Golden-valley
Judith-basin