WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has designated 16 North Dakota counties as primary natural disaster areas.
Producers who suffered losses caused by five separate disaster events may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency emergency loans .
This natural disaster designation allows FSA to extend emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of certain debts.
Producers in the following counties are eligible to apply for emergency loans:
- Benson, Bottineau, Burke, Divide, McHenry, Pembina, Pierce, Renville, Walsh and Ward counties, for drought that occurred April 1, 2019, through Aug. 31, 2019.
- Barnes, Dickey, and Logan counties, for excessive snow, excessive moisture, and flooding that occurred Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 6, 2019.
- Burleigh County, for excessive snow, excessive moisture, flooding, high winds, and hail that has occurred since July 1, 2019.
- McLean County, for excessive snow, excessive moisture, high winds, and hail that occurred Aug. 1, 2019, through Nov. 13, 2019.
- Richland County, for excessive moisture and flooding that has occurred since July 20, 2019.
Producers in counties contiguous to the 16 emergency counties — in North Dakota and surrounding states — also are eligible to apply for loans.
The deadline to apply for emergency loans is Oct. 28, 2020. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. For information on the emergency loans and a variety of additional programs to help farmers recover from disasters, contact local USDA service centers or visit
farmers.gov/recover
.
