ARGUSVILLE, N.D. (KFGO) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has approved the governor’s request for a secretarial disaster designation for 47 of North Dakota’s 53 counties, making assistance available to farmers and ranchers dealing with the impacts of an early blizzard and abnormally wet fall. Governor Doug Burgum submitted a request to Perdue last Friday.
Friday’s announcement was made as USDA Under Secretary Bill Northey met with farmers in Argusville to discuss the severe harvest situation and to get a first-hand look at damages from the early blizzard, record fall rain, flooding and cold temperatures that have delayed harvest, caused hundreds of millions of dollars in crop losses and put billions more at risk.
Governor Tim Walz has also asked the federal government to declare a dozen counties in northwest Minnesota an agriculture disaster area as a result of the severe weather.
