The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 18 counties in Michigan as primary natural disaster areas due to losses and damages caused by excessive rain that occurred April 1, 2017, and continuing. Those counties are:
| Alger | Dickinson | Iron | Marquette |
| Baraga | Gogebic | Keweenaw | Menominee |
| Bay | Gratiot | Luce | Ontonagon |
| Chippewa | Houghton | Mackinac | Schoolcraft |
| Delta | Huron |
Farmers and ranchers in the following counties in Michigan also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous:
| Arenac | Ionia | Montcalm | Shiawassee |
| Clinton | Isabella | Saginaw | Tuscola |
| Gladwin | Midland | Sanilac |
Farmers and ranchers in Florence, Forest, Iron, Marinette and Vilas counties in Wisconsin also qualify for natural disaster assistance because their counties are contiguous.
All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas on Dec. 4, 2017, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for FSA’s emergency (EM) loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.
