USDA Approves Natural Disaster Designation for Pierce County On September 18th, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) designated Pierce County, Wisconsin as a primary natural disaster area. Severe hail on August 6th resulted in crop damages and losses in Pierce County and neighboring counties in Minnesota. Several resources are available to farmers as a result of this designation. Farmers impacted by the adverse weather conditions have eight months from the date of designation to apply for emergency loans through the Farm Service Agency (FSA). Emergency loan funds may be used to restore or replace essential property, pay all or part of production costs associated with the disaster, and pay essential family living expenses. Contact your local FSA office to learn more and view information you will need in order to complete an application. Another resource that may be helpful is the Farmer to Farmer program provided by UW-Extension. This program puts Wisconsin farmers in touch with one another and is provided free of charge to assist farmers searching for hay, alfalfa haylage, corn silage, high moisture corn, corn grain, and other forages if they have experienced crop loss. You can visit the Wisconsin FSA’s website for more information at fsa.usda.gov/ and access the Farmer to Farmer webpage at farmertofarmer.uwex.edu/.
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 16:33:00 +0000