North Dakota Officials Want Insurance Break for Devils Lake Farmers

North Dakota officials are pressing federal officials to give flooded Devils Lake farmers a break.

“Prevented planting” provisions in federal crop insurance provide payments to farmers who are unable to seed a crop on overly wet or dry land. But farmers can’t file a claim if the land has been inundated for more than two years in a row.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and U.S. Sen. John Hoeven want the federal Risk Management Agency to make an exception for producers in closed lake basins such as Devils Lake, where floodwaters have swallowed up more than 160,000 acres of prime farm and pasture land.

The officials say the only assistance program available now — the Wetland Reserve Program — isn’t sufficient.