Farmers in North Dakota, including potato growers, will be able to receive emergency loans for last year’s growing season after United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue designated 16 North Dakota counties as primary natural disaster areas.
Forty-seven of North Dakota’s 53 counties had previously been approved for a secretarial disaster designation. The remaining six counties now have this designation — making all of North Dakota eligible.
Producers will be able to apply for emergency loans until Oct. 28, 2020. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency bases each loan amount of the extent of losses, security available and repayment availability.
The USDA estimates 20 per cent of potato acres were left unharvested in North Dakota last year.
