Due to the severity of the ongoing drought facing Montana, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Missoula County as a primary natural disaster area.
Producers in the county can now apply for federal Farm Service Agency emergency loans and other assistance programs.
The designation comes after a record-low snowpack this winter, and early spring runoff has caused intense droughts across much of the state.
Flathead, Granite, Lake, Mineral, Powell, Ravalli and Sanders Counties have all received drought designations as well.
Nearly every part of Montana is in some stage of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Montana also has the worst drought out of any state in the West.
