Federal relief available for Mississippi farmers impacted by ongoing drought

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – More than 40 counties in Mississippi are now considered disaster areas amid the ongoing drought across the nation.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the following counties are considered primary drought-struck:

• Adams
• Amite
• Bolivar
• Calhoun
• Claiborne
• Coahoma
• Copiah
• Franklin
• Greene
• Grenada
• Jefferson
• Lafayette
• Leflore
• Lincoln
• Panola
• Perry
• Quitman
• Sunflower
• Tallahatchie
• Wilkinson
• Yalobusha

The USDA is considering these counties contiguous to the drought-struck:

• Carroll
• Chickasaw
• Forrest
• George
• Hinds
• Holmes
• Humphreys
• Jones
• Lawrence
• Marshall
• Montgomery
• Pike
• Pontotoc
• Rankin
• Simpson
• Stone
• Tate
• Tunic
• Union
• Walthal
• Warren
• Washington
• Wayne
• Webster

The department is now offering relief for impacted farmers through low-interest loans to cover production and physical losses.

Farmers have until Dec. 10 to apply for the loans at their local farm service agency.

“Not a lot of farmers are lining up to get another loan, I can tell you that, especially in these days and times,” Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said. “However, it’s something that could help in a critical situation.”

The loans are intended to help pay for essential family living expenses, reorganize farming operations and refinance specific debts, according to the USDA.

Gipson said he’s predicting, based on trends from the U.S. Drought Monitor, that current conditions will eventually trigger other forms of relief, like the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.

“It’s going to help farmers be able to purchase hay to keep feeding the cows and keep the herd going,” Gipson said.

The state has already gotten around half of its regular rainfall so far in 2026, making it the 10th-driest year on record to date.

That’s according to the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Industry leaders are hoping for more rainfall, but at this point, they expect the disaster list to keep growing.

“We can only pray that the rain will fall before too long,” Gipson said. “We don’t need this dry pattern to continue throughout the entire summer.”

More information on the emergency farm loans is available on the USDA website.

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