The USDA is offering emergency loans to farmers in Minnesota, recognizing the challenges they face due to drought. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is providing these loans to help farmers recover from significant drought conditions, such as purchasing essential equipment, restructuring operations, or managing debts.
Here's a breakdown of the affected regions:
Primary Counties: These counties faced the most severe drought conditions. They include Beltrami, Big Stone, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, Scott, Traverse, and Waseca.
Contiguous Counties: Neighboring areas are also eligible for aid. In Minnesota, they are Aitkin, Blue Earth, Carver, Cass, Clearwater, Cook, Dakota, Faribault, Freeborn, Grant, Hennepin, Hubbard, Lac Qui Parle, Lake of the Woods, Le Sueur, Marshall, Pennington, Rice, Roseau, St. Louis, Sibley, Steele, Stevens, Swift, and Wilkin.
Other neighboring states with eligible counties include North Dakota (Richland) and South Dakota (Grant and Roberts).
Farmers in these regions must act soon. The deadline for loan applications is May 13, 2024. The FSA will then assess the loans based on factors like loss extent and repayment ability. This assistance hopes to give the farming community a boost in these challenging times.
For more guidance, farmers.gov offers tools like the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool and Loan Assistance Tool . Need to file a loss notice or have questions? Reach out to your local USDA Service Center .
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Categories: Minnesota, Government & Policy, Weather