Hermanson calls on Reynolds to request federal disaster declaration for Cerro Gordo, Worth, Hancock counties

MASON CITY — A north-central Iowa state legislator is asking Governor Reynolds to request a federal disaster declaration in response to the severe weather that struck Cerro Gordo, Worth, Hancock and eight other northwest Iowa counties.

Republican Representative Christian Hermanson of Mason City says the federal assistance especially can help farmers whose crops were impacted by the severe weather.   “One of the main reasons I’m pushing for this is, what I’m hearing from Farm Bureau, not necessarily so much in our area, there’s the cornering pockets of our district. Rockwell got hit pretty hard, Clear Lake and Ventura got hit pretty hard. A lot of crop damage in the area, crops laying down in the fields. I want to open up some relief from the indemnity programs, emergency loans from the USDA, to help our farming brothers and sisters and neighbors to help people recover from damage that they’ve had in the area.”

Hermanson says the storm damage came at a bad time for north-central Iowa farmers.  “It’s far too late in the season for them to do any kind of replanting, and we’ve had such a wet season already with the amount of rain that we’ve had this year, there’s already been a lot of crop loss in low areas. The disaster assistance programs and the emergency loans that are out there by the USDA and Farm Services Agency are critical to helping our farmers become whole again.”

Hermanson says any support to help the recovery for farmers is vital not only to our local economy but to the broader food supply chain.