LANSING, Mich. – On November 30, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted a disaster designation to five Michigan counties, which makes farm operators in those counties eligible for assistance from the USDA Farm Service Agency, including FSA emergency loans.
In July and November, the Michigan State Executive Director of USDA FSA requested a primary county disaster designation for five Michigan counties due to losses caused by multiple disasters that occurred in the 2020 crop year.
All five counties were determined to be primary natural disaster areas, and additional areas of the state were named as contiguous disaster counties.
Primary Counties include Antrim, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, and Otsego.
Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.