Washington County has been designated a primary natural disaster area due to the recent drought, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Washington County is one of 44 counties in Iowa under this designation, farmers and ranchers in contiguous counties also qualify for natural disaster assistance. This designation makes farmers in these counties eligible to apply for low interest emergency loans.

Also, at this time Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is reminding producers that Congress has not funded five disaster assistance programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, which includes the Livestock Indemnity Program; SURE; the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees and Farm-Raised Fish; the Livestock Forage Disaster Program; and the Tree Assistance Program.

The 44 primary natural disaster areas by county include:
Adair
Audubon
Boone
Buena Vista
Calhoun
Carroll
Chickasaw
Clark
Crawford
Dallas
Des Moines
Greene
Guthrie
Hamilton
Hardin
Henry
Howard
Ida
Iowa
Jasper
Jefferson
Johnson
Keokuk
Lee
Louisa
Lucas
Madison
Mahaska
Marion
Marshall
Monroe
Muscatine
Pocahontas
Polk
Poweshiek
Sac
Shelby
Story
Tama
Union
Wapello
Warren
Washington
Webster