BATON ROUGE - Farmers and ranchers in seven Louisiana parishes are eligible for federal disaster loans if they lost money because of excessive rain throughout most of April and May.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture designated Evangeline Parish as a primary natural disaster area because of rains from April 4 through May 23. 

The six adjacent parishes also qualify for Farm Service Agency disaster loans. Those are Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Jefferson Davis, Rapides and St. Landry parishes.

The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry said in a news release Friday that the seven parishes were designated natural disaster areas June 21. Farmers have eight months from that date to apply for the loans.