It’s the news many local cherry farmers have been hoping for. After a disastrous sweet cherry season prompted Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to request a Declaration of Disaster from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the USDA has officially granted Whitmer’s request for 11 counties in the state.

The Leelanau Ticker reported in August that a series of factors – including heavy rain, high humidity, mold and disease pressure, and devastating pest activity – had made 2024 one of the worst years on record for sweet cherry production in northern Michigan. According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), the state’s sweet cherry farmers “lost upwards to 75 percent of their crops.” At the time of The Ticker’s report on the matter, Whitmer had just submitted her request for a disaster declaration from the USDA, in hopes of securing emergency federal resources for farmers whose livelihoods were affected by the bad season.

On Monday, the USDA officially granted Whitmer’s request, issuing disaster declarations for three primary counties – Antrim, Grand Traverse, and Leelanau – as well as eight contiguous counties, including Benzie, Crawford, Manistee, Otsego, Charlevoix, Kalkaska, Missaukee, and Wexford.

According to an MDARD press release, the counties designated “as natural disaster or contiguous disaster areas” will render “qualified farm operators” in those counties “eligible for low interest emergency loans from USDA’s Farm Services Agency.” Farmers in those counties now have eight months “to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.” Per MDARD, the USDA Farm Services Agency will “consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability.” Eligible farmers “will have access to USDA-FSA’s low-interest emergency loan program for up to 100 percent of their weather-related agriculture production losses,” along with other assistance programs that the Farm Services Agency offers.

MDARD Director Tim Boring called the disaster declaration “key to ensuring producers can access the resources they need,” and praised Whitmer and the USDA for their action on the matter.