Five area counties are included in a group of 21 across the state that have been designated as disaster areas because of drought conditions.  Lake, Miner, Moody, Minnehaha, Sanborn, and 16 other counties have been designated as primary disaster areas by the US Department of Agriculture.  U-S Senator Tim Johnson made the announcement Wednesday.  He says with these designations, producers will be able to access assistance through the Farm Service Agency in the form of emergency loans.  FSA will take into account losses, security available, and repayment ability. 
The USDA has also extended emergency grazing on some Conservation Reserve Program acres until the end of November.
Along with the primary counties, many counties were also designated as contiguous disaster areas – including, in our area, Brookings, Kingsbury, and McCook counties. 
Lake County Farm Service Agency Executive Director Zach Neises told Lake County commissioners last week that the county had suffered an estimated more than 30-percent loss in both the alfalfa and corn crops.  He said that the heavy amount of rain in May, along with the lack of precipitation and hot weather throughout the rest of the summer contributed to the higher estimated crop losses.