N.D. Gov. Requests Weather Damage Crop Assessment

North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven has sent a letter to Farm Service Agency State Director Gary Nelson requesting that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) complete a damage assessment of agriculture production to document crop and forage losses for all North Dakota counties.

The move was the first step in making a request for a secretarial disaster declaration from the USDA for counties suffering loss of crop production and quality due to frost, late spring snow storms, overland flooding, torrential rainfall, standing water, high winds and tornadoes.

“The storm and flooding damage has severely impacted our farmers, particularly in the north central and eastern parts of our state,” Hoeven said. “The damage assessment reports will provide us with important information about crop conditions throughout the state so we can assess the damage and get the necessary assistance to our farmers and ranchers.”

Hoeven also reminded agriculture producers that they should remain in close communications with their crop insurance agents regarding prevented planting acres. Planting deadlines vary for each crop and region. They also need to document the details with their local Farm Service Agency office.

“With too much rain at the wrong time of the year, some of our farmers won’t be able to seed their fields,” Hoeven said. “I urge farmers to be proactive in working with their crop insurance providers to ensure prevented planting coverage.”

Hoeven made the request to the Farm Service Agency after touring the north central and eastern portions of the state to see first hand the damage that resulted from recent heavy rains and severe storms and to assess the impact on infrastructure and crops.