On August 25, 2016 Secretary Vilsack designated 15 counties in New York as primary natural disaster areas due to the drought.  The primary counties under this designation are:
Cayuga, Chemung, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wyoming, Yates.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, these counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of (1) D2 (Drought-Severe) for eight or more consecutive weeks, (2) D3 (Drought-Extreme), or D4 (Drought-Exceptional).
There are nine counties named as contiguous disaster counties under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act.  These counties are: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Cortland, Onondaga, Orleans, Oswego, Wayne.
A Secretarial disaster designation makes farm operators in primary counties and those counties contiguous to such primary counties eligible to be considered for certain assistance from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met.  This assistance includes FSA emergency loans.  Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.  Local FSA offices can provide affected farmers with further information.  To find your local FSA office, visit www.fsa.usda.gov.

Source: Farm Bureau Alert, August 29, 2016, info@nyfb.org.