Yellowstone County is among 34 Montana counties that have been declared natural disaster areas because of the lingering drought.

On Tuesday, Yellowstone County commissioners received a letter from Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman that declares a drought disaster through two-thirds of Montana's 56 counties.

Commissioner Bill Kennedy said he wanted to make sure that farmers and ranchers know about the disaster designation so they can apply for federal assistance.

Molt farmer Charlie McFarland said the drought lingered for a seventh year in 2004.

''We had a crop this year," McFarland said Tuesday. ''It wasn't as bad as in past years because what little rain we had was spaced out. It was really dry in the spring, and that hurt some, but later on after the middle of June and July we started getting showers and that made quite a difference in our crop."

Timely rains this fall also helped the winter wheat crop get a start, McFarland said.

''Probably the worst part of it is that wells and springs are going dry," McFarland said. ''People are having to haul water to their cattle, and the pastures are almost a disaster. The springs are dried up, and even the good ones are barely a trickle."

McFarland said a neighbor, Lee Lane, built a pipeline to transport water from his good well to a different part of his ranch. But even his good well isn't producing as much water as it once did.

Congress last month approved $3 billion in drought assistance for farmers and ranchers.

Paul Dixon, Yellowstone County's agriculture agent, said the disaster declaration allows ranchers and farmers to receive low-interest emergency loans through the Farm Service Administration.

Livestock producers also received help from new tax legislation passed by Congress. Ranchers who had to sell livestock because of the drought don't have to pay capital gains taxes on the sale if they buy new livestock within four years.

''That's been very helpful to producers. It allows them to defer income from the forced sale of their livestock," Dixon said.

Dixon said 2004 was just about as dry as the previous two years in Yellowstone County.

''The one saving grace was that it was cool this summer," Dixon said. ''It would have been a lot tougher situation if it had been hotter."

Other Montana counties included in the drought disaster declaration are Beaverhead, Big Horn, Broadwater, Carbon, Carter, Custer, Dawson, Fallon, Glacier, Golden Valley, Jefferson, Judith Basin, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Madison, McCone, Meagher, Mineral, Musselshell, Park, Powder River, Powell, Prairie, Rosebud, Sanders, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, Treasure, Wheatland and Wibaux.

Eighteen other Montana counties were designated by the USDA as ''contiguous disaster counties." They are Cascade, Choteau, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Garfield, Granite, Hill, Lincoln, Missoula, Petroleum, Pondera, Ravalli, Richland, Roosevelt, Toole and Valley. Farmers and ranchers in those contiguous counties are also eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the FSA.