Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated nine Minnesota counties as primary natural disaster areas. The nine primary counties are Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Murray, Nicollet, Pipestone, Redwood, Rice and Wright . Contiguous counties are also eligible. (Blue Earth, Dakota, Le Sueur, Rock, Stearns, Brown, Dodge, Meeker, Scott, Steele, Carver, Goodhue, Nobles, Sherburne, Waseca, Cottonwood, Hennepin, Renville, Sibley, Yellow Medicine)
This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the 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. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local USDA Service Center.
