WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Swift County was designated on Friday as a primary natural disaster area because of persistent drought conditions that resulted in crop losses.
Swift County, along with Douglas and Otter Tail counties, were added to the list by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton's office.
Farmers in these counties are now eligible to apply for low-interest emergency loans from the USDA's Farm Service Agency.
Farmers in counties that are contiguous to the "primary" disaster counties are also eligible to apply for the loans.
Those 13 counties include: Becker, Big Stone, Chippewa, Clay, Grant, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Pope, Stearns, Stevens, Todd, Wadena, and Wilkin counties.
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Dayton, D-Minn., said more needs to be done to provide "comprehensive relief" to farmers and their families.
"Almost half of the counties in Minnesota have been declared federal disaster areas this year," said Dayton. "The crisis is real; the suffering is acute."
Recently Dayton joined with national farm groups and dozens of senators and members of Congress to continue seeking emergency disaster assistance for farmers and ranchers.
They called on their colleagues and President Bush to support an agriculture disaster assistance package that would cover both 2005 and 2006 and provide direct compensation for losses in addition the current program of low-interest loans.
