USDA Designates 43 North Dakota Counties as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. 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. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor (see http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/), these counties suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for 8 or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.

Triggering Disaster #1:

State: North Dakota

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: Dec. 20, 2021

Primary Counties Eligible:

Contiguous Counties also Eligible:

North Dakota: Barnes, Grand Forks, Ransom, Dickey, Griggs, Steele

Minnesota: Kittson and Marshall

Montana: Fallon, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan and Wibaux

South Dakota: Campbell, Corson, Harding, McPherson and Perkins

Triggering Disaster 2:

State: North Dakota

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: Jan. 3, 2022

Primary Counties Eligible: Barnes, Grand Forks, Griggs and Steele

Contiguous Counties also Eligible:

North Dakota:

Minnesota: Marshall and Polk

For more information on FSA disaster assistance programs or to find your local USDA Service Center visit farmers.gov/recover.