VIDALIA — Area farmers may be eligible for emergency loans following the federal designation of Concordia Parish as a primary drought disaster area.

Concordia Parish is among 29 Louisiana parishes and 10 counties in Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as drought disaster areas.

The designation makes farmers and ranchers eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency, if they can prove sufficient losses to drought.

Farmers in eligible areas have eight months from the disaster declaration date to apply for the emergency loans.

Because of Concordia Parish’s designation, Adams and Wilkinson counties have been designated contiguous disaster areas.

Thirteen Louisiana parishes are primary disaster areas; the other 16 parishes and 10 counties are adjacent to them. Two other Mississippi counties are eligible for disaster aid because they’re adjacent to some of the dozens of Tennessee counties also declared disaster areas Friday.

The parishes declared primary disaster areas also include East Carroll, Grant, LaSalle, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Sabine, Vernon, West Carroll and Winn.

Adjacent Louisiana parishes are Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Caldwell, Catahoula, De Soto, Evangeline, Lincoln, Madison, Pointe Coupee, Red River, Richland, Tensas, Union and West Feliciana.

In addition to Adams and Wilkinson, Mississippi counties affected by Louisiana’s declaration are Issaquena and Warren. Those adjacent to Tennessee drought disaster counties are Alcorn and Tishomingo.

The declaration in Louisiana also affects Ashley, Chicot and Union counties in Arkansas and Newton, Sabine and Shelby counties in Texas.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.