ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The federal government has declared 12 counties in northern Minnesota as an agricultural disaster area.
Thursday's designation makes farmers in the 12 counties eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty requested the designation last month due to heavy snow and rain, flooding, and unseasonably cool temperatures from last April through June.
The counties are: Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Pennington, Roseau, Beltrami, Clearwater, Itasca, Polk, Red Lake and St. Louis.
The Loss Assessment Report submitted by the counties and approved by the FSA showed that farms in the affected counties experienced crop losses of 30 percent or more because they were prevented from planting.
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