SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Drought-stricken farmers and ranchers in the Dakotas are getting more help from the federal Agriculture Department.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced a two-month extension for emergency grazing on Conservation Reserve Program land. He also has designated 21 South Dakota counties as primary natural disaster areas, which also affects six contiguous counties in North Dakota.

Producers in those counties might qualify for low-interest emergency loans.

The CRP grazing extension means ranchers can graze their cattle on CRP land that normally is idled through November rather than through September. The extension does not apply to emergency haying of CRP land.