ST. PAUL – The Minnesota House approved legislation on Thursday making disaster recovery loans available to farmers whose barns have recently collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, sleet, or ice.
Dozens of farm buildings have caved in recent days, primarily impacting southeastern Minnesota and also occurring in other parts of the state. The legislation (S.F. 2225) authorizes the Minnesota Rural Finance Authority to issue Disaster Recovery Loans to farmers whose properties sustained damage retroactively to Jan. 1, 2019.
“This string of collapsed buildings is causing significant hardships around the state, including right here in District 12B,” said Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, who co-authored the House version of the bill. “This issue needed to be addressed immediately because these farmers who have been impacted don’t have the luxury of waiting around to see what happens with an insurance claim. I am pleased we took some urgency in getting this bill to the governor so we can help farmers rebuild from the damages they’ve suffered.”
Farmers can use Disaster Recovery Loans for several purposes:
- To clean up, repair, or replace farm structures and septic and water systems, as well as replace seed, other crop inputs, feed, and livestock;
- To purchase watering systems, irrigation systems, and other drought mitigation systems and practices when drought is the cause of the purchase;
- To restore farmland; or
- To replace flocks, make building improvements, or cover the loss of revenue when the replacement, improvements, or loss of revenue is due to the confirmed presence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial poultry or game flock located in Minnesota.
With the Senate having previously approved the bill, it now is in the hands of Gov. Tim Walz for enactment.
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