Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has signed legislation that loosens restrictions for loans through the State Agriculture Department’s Rural Finance Authority to help farmers and ranchers deal with the negative effects of the coronavirus. State Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen encourages farmers who are interested in the Disaster Recovery Loan program to go to their RFA website.
He says the bill frees up RFA funds to help those producers dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic.
Petersen says some of the greatest needs for producer dealing with the virus is making sure they can transport their goods to market and get the inputs they need such as fertilizers.
Besides loosening up RFA loan restrictions, the State Legislature expanded the animal diseases covered by the Disaster Recovery Loan Program and opened it up more broadly to hazards rather than naming them specifically.
