The ongoing drought has led the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to designate most Maine counties as primary natural disaster areas.
The designation allows the USDA to extend emergency loans to producers recovering from natural disasters.
Those loans will allow farmers to replace equipment and livestock, as well as refinance debts.
Farmers in 16 out of 19 Maine counties are eligible for the loans. Those farmers will need to file applications over the next six months or so. More info here.
Most of Maine (72 percent) remains under severe drought conditions, with a portion of coastal York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, and Knox counties under extreme drought.
The latest three month forecast from the National Weather Service says current dry conditions will continue through the winter as the ground freezes.
