  NEWS RELEASE
ST. PAUL, Minn., July 08, 2025 – Agricultural operations in Minnesota have been significantly impacted by recent severe weather including tornadoes, derecho winds, hail, lightning, and flooding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has technical and financial assistance available to help farmers and livestock producers recover from these adverse weather events. Impacted producers should contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.
USDA Disaster Assistance
Producers who experience livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality or sell injured livestock at a reduced price may be eligible for the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). To participate in LIP, producers will have to provide acceptable documentation of death losses or evidence of reduced sales resulting from an eligible adverse weather event and must submit a notice of loss and program payment application to the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) no later than March 2, 2026, for 2025 calendar year losses. Livestock producers who experience losses related to tornadoes should check with their local FSA office for LIP eligibility criteria.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) provides eligible producers with compensation for feed and grazing losses. For ELAP, producers are required to complete a notice of loss and submit a payment application to their local FSA office no later than the annual program application deadline, March 2, 2026, for 2025 calendar year losses.
Additionally, eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers may be eligible for cost-share assistance through the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes or vines. TAP complements the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) or crop insurance coverage, which covers the crop but not the plants or trees in all cases. For TAP, a program application must be filed within 90 days of the disaster event or the date when the loss of the trees, bushes or vines is apparent.
“Impacted producers should timely report all crop, livestock and farm infrastructure damages and losses to their local FSA county office as soon as possible,” said Kurt Blomgren, State Executive Director for FSA in Minnesota. “As you evaluate your operation, take time to gather important documents you will need to get assistance, including farm records, herd inventory, receipts and pictures of damages or losses.”
FSA also offers a variety of direct and guaranteed farm loans, including operating and emergency farm loans, to producers unable to secure commercial financing. Producers in counties with a primary or contiguous disaster designation may be eligible for low interest emergency loans to help them recover from production and physical losses. Loans can help producers replace essential property, purchase inputs like livestock, equipment, feed and seed, cover family living expenses or refinance farm-related debts and other needs.
Additionally, FSA offers several loan servicing options available for borrowers who are unable to make scheduled payments on their farm loan programs debt to the agency because of reasons beyond their control.
The Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL) provides low-interest financing so producers can build, repair, replace or upgrade facilities to store commodities. Loan terms vary from three to 12 years. Producers who incurred damage to or loss of their equipment or infrastructure funded by the FSFL program should contact their insurance agent and their local USDA Service Center. Producers in need of on-farm storage should also contact USDA.
Risk Management
Producers with NAP coverage should report crop damage to their local FSA office and must file a Notice of Loss (CCC-576) within 15 days of the loss becoming apparent, except for hand-harvested crops, which should be reported in writing within 72 hours.
Producers with risk protection through Federal Crop Insurance should report crop damage to their crop insurance agent within 72 hours of discovering damage and be sure to follow up in writing within 15 days.
“Crop insurance and other USDA risk management options are offered to help producers manage risk because we never know what nature has in store for the future,” said Laura Heinrich, Director of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) Regional Office that covers Minnesota. “The Approved Insurance Providers, loss adjusters and agents are experienced and well-trained in handling these types of events.”
Conservation
FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) can assist landowners and forest stewards with financial and technical assistance to restore fencing, damaged farmland or forests, and remove debris from agricultural areas.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is always available to provide technical assistance during the recovery process by assisting producers to plan and implement conservation practices on farms and working forests impacted by natural disasters.
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can help producers plan and implement conservation practices on land impacted by natural disasters.
“The Natural Resources Conservation Service can be a very valuable partner to help landowners with their recovery and resiliency efforts,” said Troy Daniell NRCS State Conservationist in Minnesota. “Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop approaches that focus on effective recovery of the land.”
Assistance for Communities
Additional NRCS programs include the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program, which assists local government sponsors with the cost of addressing watershed impairments or hazards such as debris removal and streambank stabilization.
Eligible sponsors include cities, counties, towns or any federally recognized Native American tribe or tribal organization. Sponsors must submit a formal request (by mail or email) to the NRCS state conservationist for assistance within 60 days of the natural disaster occurrence or 60 days from the date when access to the sites become available. For more information sponsors should please contact their local NRCS office.
More Information
Additional USDA disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including USDA resources specifically for producers impacted by tornadoes. Those resources include the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet and Loan Assistance Tool. Additionally, FarmRaise partnered with FSA to launch an online education hub comprised of videos, tools and interactive resources, including farm loan information and LIP and ELAP decision tools. For FSA and NRCS programs, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent.
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