28 Parishes In Drought Disaster Declaration

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's Department of Agriculture says federal authorities have declared 28 parishes in the state natural disaster areas because of drought.

Commissioner Mike Strain said in a Wednesday news release that the designation makes farm operators in the areas eligible to be considered for assistance from the Farm Service Agency, including low-interest emergency loans.

The designation names 21 parishes as primary natural disaster areas. Seven neighboring parishes were named as contiguous disaster areas.

The affected parishes are:

• Bienville
• Bossier
• Caddo
• Claiborne
• DeSoto
• East Carroll
• Grant
• Jackson
• Lincoln
• Madison
• Morehouse
• Natchitoches
• Ouachita
• Red River
• Richland
• Sabine
• Union
• Vernon
• Webster
• West Carroll
• Winn
• along with the contiguous parishes of Allen, Beauregard, Caldwell, Franklin, LaSalle, Rapides and Tensas