NATCHEZ — Farmers and ranchers in Adams, Franklin, Jefferson and Wilkinson counties as well as Concordia Parish are currently eligible to apply for drought disaster aid from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Drought disaster aid is available in 79 of Mississippi’s 82 counties — and in 22 counties and parishes in adjacent states.

Farmers and ranchers in those areas have eight months from Feb. 23 to apply for low-interest loans from the Farm Service Agency to help cover part of their losses from the drought.

Sixty-nine Mississippi counties are considered primary disaster areas, and the other 10 are adjacent to them. That status also qualifies farmers in four other states: 10 counties in western Alabama, three in south Arkansas, five in southwest Tennessee and four northeast Louisiana parishes.

The only Mississippi counties not on either list are Amite, Pike and Walthall.

The Mississippi counties declared primary disaster areas are: Adams, Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Coahoma, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, George, Greene, Grenada, Harrison, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys Issaquena, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jones, Kemper, Lafayette, Lamar, Lauderdale, Leake, Lee, Leflore, Lowndes, Madison, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola Perry, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Winston, Yalobusha, and Yazoo counties.

The adjacent counties where farmers and ranchers also can qualify for low-interest disaster loans are in Mississippi are DeSoto, Franklin, Hancock, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion, Pearl River, Tunica and Wilkinson.

In Louisiana, adjacent parishes available for loans are Concordia, East Carroll, Madison and Tensas.

FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.