2011 was the wettest year on record for both Detroit and Toledo creating major losses for local farmers, but relief is on the way! The federal government has named Monroe and Lenawee counties as primary natural disaster areas for 2011.
Those two are among 29 other counties in Michigan where farmers were hit hard by weather.
Christina Salenbien is executive director of the Monroe County Farm Service Agency. She say, "This disaster declaration allows producers to come into our offices and receive a little bit of relief for the losses in productions and yields that they may have suffered for 2011."
Toledo got more than 48 inches of precipitation and over 47 inches were dumped on Detroit, making it the wettest year on record for both cities.
Richard Janssens is one of many local farmers who had a hard time keeping up with all the rain.
"How it affected me directly was, first of all, because of late planting. You get less yield, so as a result you don't have as much," he says. "It required additional work."
Fertilizer, fuel costs and seed costs all affected his bottom line, though not enough so to make him apply for one of the loans.
However, Janssens says, like most farmers in Monroe County, he's concerned how his wheat crops will turn out this spring.
"I know, looking at my own, I got doubts about how it's going to be, because it doesn't look good at all at this point," he says. "It got planted about a month later than it should have been planted."
Low interest emergency loans from the Farm Service Agency will be given to farmers who qualify.
"It's all based on revenue," Salenbien says. "Essentially you have to take all the numbers for a farm's revenue, put them together, and if it shows a loss then we're able to make a payment."
Currently, Salenbien's office is still working on 2010 claims. Farmers will have until September 27 to file an assistance claim for 2011.
Farmers in Lucas, Fulton and Williams counties also qualify for assistance because they are contiguous counties.
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