USDA offering emergency loans to farmers dealing with ongoing drought
TRI-CITIES, Wash. — The United States Department of Agriculture is offering emergency assistance to farmers due to the ongoing drought in our area.
Over the summer, most of Washington State has been in a drought, impacting how much water is available for people to use.
While it might be frustrating for some, it’s had real impacts on our local farmers, who say it’s just one more thing they have to deal with as larger corporations and varying weather conditions continue to shrink their harvests and their margins.
“It’s sadly to see we plant the seeds and they just die because there’s not enough water, you know?” Isela Bautista is the owner of Bautista farms which operates out of Sunnyside. She says each year the conditions have gotten worse for them to deal with; with even less water this year than years prior.
Other area farmers say they’ve started trying to prepare ahead of the season for the lack of water, one even building and filling up their own reservoir before water restrictions are put in place.
To help ease the burden on farmers, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering emergency loan assistance to farmers in several qualifying counties to help them stay afloat.
To learn more about the USDA’s program, click here.
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