
The counties are Luna, as well as Bernalillo, Grant, Sierra, Catron, Hidalgo, Otero, Socorro, Dona Ana, Lincoln, Sandoval and Valencia.
Farmers and ranchers in 11 other counties in New Mexico also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
Those counties are Chaves, Eddy, McKinley, Santa Fe, Cibola, Guadalupe, Rio Arriba, Torrance, De Baca, Los Alamos and San Juan.
The USDA says farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
Also, a producer meeting to update local farmers and ranchers on available programs and changes will be held on Tuesday, March 5th from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the USDA Farm Service Agency Deming office at 405 East Florida.