USDA Offers Disaster Assistance to Agricultural Producers in South Dakota Impacted by Winter Storms

(Huron, S.D., March 26, 2026) - Agricultural operations in South Dakota have been significantly impacted by recent winter storms. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has technical and financial assistance available to help farmers and livestock producers recover from these adverse weather events.

"USDA has a suite of programs to support farmers and ranchers as they recover from disasters," said Farm Production and Conservation Under Secretary Richard Fordyce. "I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages."

FSA's Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) can assist landowners and forest stewards with financial assistance to restore damaged farmland and conservation structures or forests.

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is always available to provide technical assistance during the recovery process by assisting producers to plan and implement conservation practices on farms and working forests impacted by natural disasters. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can help producers plan and implement conservation practices on land impacted by natural disasters.     

"At USDA, we serve as a partner to help landowners with their resiliency and recovery efforts," said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota. "Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land."

More Information 

Additional USDA disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including USDA resources specifically for producers impacted by winter weather. Those resources include the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, Loan Assistance Tool,and Natural Disasters and Crop Insurance fact sheet. Additionally, FarmRaise offers an FSA educational hubwith LIP and ELAP decision tools as well as farm loan resource videos. For FSA and NRCS programs, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent.

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