NEW ORLEANS - The U.S. Department of Agriculture says farmers in 21 Louisiana parishes are eligible for drought disaster aid. 

It designated 10 parishes - Bienville, Caldwell, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Union and Webster - as primary disaster areas.

News releases Wednesday said the others are eligible because they're adjacent to a parish or a county that was declared a primary disaster area. 

Bossier, Catahoula, East Carroll, Franklin, LaSalle, Madison, Natchitoches, Red River, West Carroll, and Winn parishes are next to a Louisiana parish, and Caddo Parish is next to a Texas county declared a disaster area.

Farmers in those 21 parishes have eight months to apply for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.