USDA’s NRCS New Mexico Offers Disaster Assistance to Agricultural Producers in Harding County Impacted by Invasive Noxious Weed and Locoweed

Severe contrasts between wet weather last fall and drier conditions this year have produced unusual weather patterns in parts of northeast New Mexico, resulting in an invasive amounts of noxious weed and locoweed. This has placed a strain and hardship on the ranchers of the area, with some reporting losses on cattle and horses. Harding County has issued an Emergency Declaration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in New Mexico is offering an initial emergency five-day sign-up from April 27th - May 1st for disaster assistance funding through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). This will provide technical and financial assistance to agricultural landowners and producers in Harding County recovering from invasive, noxious weeds and locoweed resulting from unusual weather patterns. NRCS New Mexico will utilize "Act Now" to process applications more quickly. "Act Now"allows NRCS to pre-approve ranked applications when the ranking score meets or exceeds an established threshold score. Applications will be batched and processed in the order received.

To apply, contact the Roy field office at 411 Chicosa St., Roy, NM 87743, (575) 485-2294 Ext. 3.

More Information

Additional USDA disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including USDA resources specifically for producers impacted by adverse weather events. Those resources include the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, Loan Assistance Tool, and Natural Disasters and Crop Insurance fact sheet.

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