A USDA Secretarial disaster designation names a county as hurt by a drought, freeze, flood or other disaster. It opens FSA emergency loans to eligible farmers and ranchers in that county and in the counties touching it, usually for 8 months.
49 of our 49 counties appear in FSA's current designation files
| Roosevelt County, NM | primary · latest Jul 28, 2026 |
| Harding County, NM | primary · latest Jul 28, 2026 |
| Parmer County, TX | primary · latest Jul 28, 2026 |
| Quay County, NM | primary · latest Jul 28, 2026 |
| Deaf Smith County, TX | primary · latest Jul 28, 2026 |
| Curry County, NM | primary · latest Jul 28, 2026 |
| Union County, NM | primary · latest Jul 1, 2026 |
| Hartley County, TX | primary · latest Jul 1, 2026 |
Newest approvals first. Emergency loans are available for 8 months from a designation's approval date.
Source: FSA disaster designation files · as of Nov 1, 2026
Most designations in the Panhandle come from drought, and many are "fast-tracked". When a county shows severe drought (D2) for eight consecutive weeks on the Drought Monitor, or extreme (D3) or worse at any time, USDA designates it nearly automatically. Other disasters go through a request from the state and a damage assessment.
There are two kinds of listing:
- Primary ("declared"): the county itself met the disaster criteria.
- Contiguous ("neighboring"): it touches a primary county. Producers there qualify for the same emergency loans.
The main thing a designation opens is FSA emergency (EM) loans for physical and production losses. You generally apply within 8 months of the designation date. FSA also considers designations for some other assistance, so ask your office what applies.
A designation isn't the same as being on the LFP list. They use different rules and come from different FSA files, and a county can be on one without the other.
Cownty shows each county's designations with the approval date and whether it was declared or neighboring, from FSA's published designation files.
Official sources
Rules checked against these pages on Oct 18, 2026. Live numbers update with each data load. Information only: the agency decides. Not affiliated with USDA.