Gov. Kelly Armstrong today announced a Grain Storage and Facility Rebuilder Program to help agricultural producers quickly replace infrastructure, such as grain storage, lost in recent severe storms, including storms on June 20-21 that spawned over a dozen tornadoes and derecho straight-line winds.
The storms destroyed tens of millions of bushels of grain storage, crumpling some grain bins like paper cups and flinging others hundreds of yards from their foundations. Armstrong surveyed damage in the Enderlin, Page and Hunter areas last week, hearing directly from producers about the urgent need to replace grain storage before harvest begins in two months.
“The Grain Storage and Facility Rebuilder Program will provide an immediate source of low-interest gap financing for producers so they can start ordering temporary or permanent grain storage solutions as they work through their insurance,” Armstrong said. “By quickly replacing storage and other infrastructure, farmers will have more control over when they can market this year’s crop, helping to minimize lost profitability.”
The Grain Storage and Facility Rebuilder Program provides two options for producers: