Several Counties Qualify For Drought Assistance

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared several Wyoming counties eligible for federal disaster assistance because of drought conditions.

The Associated Press reports farmers and ranchers in Hot Springs, Fremont, Park and Washakie counties may qualify for emergency loans. The qualify, applicants must have suffered at least a 30 percent loss of their production per acre or normal animal production, based on an average of the three years immediately preceding the disaster year.

The Agriculture Department designated March 1 as the beginning of the drought.