Costa Rica's government yesterday declared a national emergency to assist ranchers in the country's Northern Zone who have lost at least 257 cattle in the course of a months-old dry spell.

Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias and Agriculture Minister Javier Flores signed a decree that frees up $300,000 and opens the door for more than $1 million more in the coming days.

The cattle deaths have been spread across 54 ranches in the canton of Los Chiles, which borders Nicaragua in north-central Costa Rica.

Officials in the region are looking into further options in case light rains this week do not continue. By press time it was unclear exactly how the emergency funds would be spent, but a brief statement from President Oscar Arias' office said the $1 million could go toward “the recovery, reconstruction and repositioning of the agricultural areas and damaged public services.”

Eliud Herrera, the regional director of the Production Ministry's National Animal Health Department (SENASA), told The Tico Times earlier in the week that officials are looking into supplying local farmers with alternate feed for their cattle to make up for the decimated pastures, and digging new wells to find water.

“We are looking for the central government's help to get the resources to the farmers to buy their feed,” Herrera said.

EFE reported that 74 percent of Los Chiles' bean fields have been affected by the drought, and losses have soared to more than $2 million. And according to Javier Avila, the Production Ministry's Northern Zone regional director, some 8,000 hectares (about 19,800 acres) of citrus crops and 2,000 hectares of sugarcane planted in the region are already feeling the drought.