USDA Designates Three Minnesota 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, 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: Minnesota

Triggering Disaster: Drought

Application Deadline: April 13, 2022

Primary County Eligible: Blue Earth, Clay and Cottonwood

Contiguous Counties Also Eligible:

Minnesota:                             

Becker                         Martin                         Otter Tail

Brown                          Murray                        Redwood

Faribault                       Nicollet                       Waseca

Jackson                        Nobles                        Watonwan

Le Sueur                       Norman                      Wilkin

North Dakota: Cass and Richland

More Resources

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-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.