USDA Designates Nine Wisconsin Counties as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

Thursday, September 14th, 2023 -- 9:01 AM

The USDA has designated nine counties in Wisconsin as Primary Natural Disaster Areas and 26 contiguous counties due to drought in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

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 to refinance 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 D2 Drought-Severe for 8 or more consecutive weeks or D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.

The nine counties in the designation include Chippewa, Dunn, Jackson, La Crosse, Outagamie, Price, Rusk, Taylor, and Wood. The contiguous continues include Adams, Ashland, Barron, Brown, Calumet, Clark, Eau Claire, Iron, Juneau, Lincoln, Marathon, Monroe, Oneida, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Portage, St. Croix, Sawyer, Shawano, Trempealeau, Vernon, Vilas, Washburn, Waupaca, and Winnebago.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.