LINCOLN — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has approved another disaster declaration for 13 Nebraska counties due to drought, bringing the total number of counties covered by a USDA declaration for drought conditions this year to 86 of 93 counties.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillenannounced Rollins’ latest approvalWednesday, one day after she approved it. A secretarial designation frees up loan assistance for Nebraska farmers impacted by drought for up to eight months after the declaration is issued. Six counties are now covered for the first time in 2026.
Local USDA Farm Service Agency offices can provide affected farmers with additional information, according to Pillen’s office.
Rollins has approvedsimilar drought-related ordersfor nearly all Nebraska counties since April. Some are listed multiple times, particularly those in western and north-central Nebraska. The eight-month deadline is restarted for any Nebraska county under a subsequent drought disaster declaration.
“I appreciate Sec. Rollins, her constant attention to the needs of [our] farmers and ag producers who might require this assistance as a result of the drought impact during this growing season,” Pillen said in a Wednesday statement.
Rollins’ latest drought-related declaration designates Lancaster and Saline Counties as primary counties plus any adjacent counties: Butler, Cass, Fillmore, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Otoe, Saunders, Seward, Thayer and York.
All but seven Nebraska counties on the eastern edge of the state are covered under recent declarations due to drought conditions: Burt, Douglas, Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson, Sarpy and Washington, according toUSDA data up through June 17, plus the latest declaration.
More than 76% of Nebraska faces at least “moderate” drought conditions, according to themost recent state-level datafrom theU.S. Drought Monitor, which is produced through a partnership among the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the USDA, NOAA and NASA. That’sestimated to be 636,883 Nebraskans. Data is released each Thursday.
Nearly 94% of the state faces at least “abnormally dry” conditions, and over 24% of Nebraska is at the “extreme” or “exceptional” drought designation.
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