Some Area Counties Get Drought Declaration

Lengthy drought conditions across West Alabama and state have prompted federal help. Greene, Hale, Marengo, Perry, and Sumter counties in West Alabama are among 20 Alabama counties designated as primary natural disaster areas resulting from ongoing and lengthy drought conditions. The announcement of the United States Department of Agriculture's designation was made by new USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins.

State Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Rick Pate pointed out the recent rain in recent weeks has helped abate dry conditions a good bit but has not ended them. The U.S. Drought Monitor's designation of "Abnormally Dry" conditions still covers all of West Alabama except Fayette, Lamar, Pickens and Walker counties.

“The drought affected over half of the counties in Alabama,” Pate wrote in an agency press release. “We encourage farmers to reach out to their local USDA offices for details about available funding.”

Four other West Alabama counties; Bibb, Pickens, Tuscaloosa, and Walker are among 18 counties contiguous to the primary declaration counties that are at risk for reduced crop yields and livestock productivity due to Abnormally Dry conditions and are included in the USDA declaration.

According to the declaration issued Tuesday, the impacted counties suffered from a drought intensity value of:

1) D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or
2) D3 Drought-Extreme or
3) D4 Drought-Exceptional.

USDA gives the following information in the declaration release:

"A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loan assistance, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration (3-25-25) to apply for emergency loans. FSA considers each emergency loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of production losses on the farm and the security and repayment ability of the operator."

Farmers interested in learning about program options or wanting to verify eligibility for AL Fast Track Drought - 2025 USDA06648 should visit: