86 Nebraska counties facing drought approved for USDA emergency loan assistance

LINCOLN — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has approved another disaster declaration for 13 Nebraska counties due to drought, bringing the total number of counties covered by a USDA declaration for drought conditions this year to 86 of 93 counties.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced Rollins’ latest approval Wednesday, one day after she approved it. A secretarial designation frees up loan assistance for Nebraska farmers impacted by drought for up to eight months after the declaration is issued. Six counties are now covered for the first time in 2026.

Local USDA Farm Service Agency offices can provide affected farmers with additional information, according to Pillen’s office.

Rollins has approved similar drought-related orders for nearly all Nebraska counties since April. Some are listed multiple times, particularly those in western and north-central Nebraska. The eight-month deadline is restarted for any Nebraska county under a subsequent drought disaster declaration.

“I appreciate Sec. Rollins, her constant attention to the needs of [our] farmers and ag producers who might require this assistance as a result of the drought impact during this growing season,” Pillen said in a Wednesday statement.

The secretary also signed off on a disaster declaration for 21 counties affected by wildfires in early July. President Donald Trump issued a federal emergency for five of those counties, too.

Rollins’ latest drought-related declaration designates Lancaster and Saline Counties as primary counties plus any adjacent counties: Butler, Cass, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Otoe, Saunders, Seward, Thayer and York.

All but seven Nebraska counties on the eastern edge of the state are covered under recent declarations due to drought conditions: Burt, Douglas, Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson, Sarpy and Washington, according to USDA data up through June 17, plus the latest declaration.

More than 76% of Nebraska faces at least “moderate” drought conditions, according to the most recent state-level data from the U.S. Drought Monitor, which is produced through a partnership among the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the USDA, NOAA and NASA. That’s estimated to be 636,883 Nebraskans. Data is released each Thursday.

Nearly 94% of the state faces at least “abnormally dry” conditions, and over 24% of Nebraska is at the “extreme” or “exceptional” drought designation.