The U.S. Department of Agriculture declared all but one Colorado county a disaster area due to longstanding drought during 2020 and into 2021.

Custer County in south central Colorado was the only county to be left out of the primary drought designation. It was listed as contiguous to other counties in the declaration and is eligible for the same USDA aid. 

Last weekend’s Front Range snowstorm did little to stem the extreme drought conditions. As of Thursday, the entire state is in drought, with 15% of the state in exceptional  drought, the worst level. 

According to a March 5 letter from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those contiguous counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency, provided eligibility requirements are met. This assistance includes FSA emergency loans.

Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans. 

According to a statement Friday from Gov. Jared Polis, “Our agricultural community is so important to Colorado and the recent drought has impacted all its members including farmers, ranchers, and other stewards of the land. I’m grateful to Secretary Vilsack for making this designation which will allow eligible farm operations to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency. Our agricultural community deserves our support, and I urge us all to recognize their contributions, from the livestock industry to vegetable production.”