Freeborn County farmers who suffered damages from two major storms that swept the area last year may now be eligible to receive low-interest emergency loans made available through the federal government.

According to Scott Nordby, farm loan officer with the Martin County Farm Service Agency office, farmers in Freeborn County may be eligible to receive up to $500,000 in loans. He said to qualify, farmers must have experienced at least a 30 percent loss on crop production or physical loss to livestock, real estate or machinery from June 2010 through November 2010. The loss would be determined from insurance records.

Loans are available at a 3.75 percent fixed rate. Nordby said the repayment period on loans for losses of crops or livestock can be extended from one to seven years. With real estate collateral, the repayment period on loans can be extended up to 20 years.

Applications must be received by Sept. 19, 2011.

The emergency loans were announced on Thursday by U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, who said farmers in six counties across the state were eligible to receive loans due to losses caused by storms between June 2010 and November 2010.

Freeborn County was designated by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack as the primary natural disaster area while Dodge, Faribault, Mower, Steele and Waseca Counties were named as contiguous disaster counties.

Farmers in all six of these counties are now eligible to be considered for low interest emergency loans from the FSA and the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments Program.

“These loans will allow farmers in southern Minnesota to get back on their feet after the disastrous growing season of 2010,” Sen. Franken said in a prepared statement. “I strongly urge farmers affected by last year’s storms to contact their local FSA offices to apply for assistance.”

Damages occurred on many farms across Freeborn County, first from tornadoes that devastated the area on June 17, 2010, and then from flooding due to heavy rains received Sept. 22 and 23, 2010.

Lee Crawford, FSA county executive director in Freeborn County, estimated back in July that initial crop damage after the June tornadoes at 3 percent to 5 percent in Freeborn County.

Contact:
To see if you qualify, contact Scott Nordby or Lori Larsen at:
Martin County FSA Office
923 North State St., Ste. 100
Fairmont, MN 56031
Phone: 507-235-6661
Scott Nordby, farm loan manager or Lori Larsen, program technician