USDA Designates Six Minnesota Counties as Contiguous 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.

Impacted Area: North Dakota

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: Feb. 22, 2022

Primary Counties Eligible: Cass and Traill

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

North Dakota: Barnes, Grand Forks, Ransom, Richland and Steele

Minnesota: Clay, Norman and Polk

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.

Impacted Area: Iowa

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: Feb. 22, 2022

Primary Counties Eligible: Buena Vista, Dickinson, Emmet, Kossuth and Pocahontas

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

Iowa: Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Hancock, Humboldt, Ida, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Sac, Webster, Winnebago and Wright 

Minnesota: Faribault, Jackson and Martin

More Resources

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool can help you determine program or loan options. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local  USDA Service Center.