(KFGO News, listener submission)
By: Jacob Orledge
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – The North Dakota Industrial Commission is expanding a low-interest loan program designed to support farmers and ranchers — an initiative on pace to exhaust the $300 million already set aside for it.
The 2026 Farm Financial Stability Loan Program allows agricultural producers who sustained operating losses in recent years to restructure their debts at lower interest rates. Hundreds of farmers and ranchers across the state have applied for $270 million.
“It has ramped up significantly,” said Don Morgan, CEO of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota, which administers the program through local banks and credit unions.
Morgan said it has become the largest program in the bank’s history, surpassing the previous record of $190 million. The application window opened Dec. 9, 2025.
The Industrial Commission has given the bank authority to transfer up to $80 million from another agricultural relief initiative established last fall, the 2026 Grain Inventory Loan Program, to bring the funding for low-interest operating loans to $380 million.
“The terms on the farm stability loan are pretty good,” said Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, one of three members on the commission. “I can see why that’s being utilized and tapped. It buys people some time to put some capital together and put themselves in a better position.”
The 2026 Grain Inventory Program, a short-term solution designed to help farmers with leftover inventories from the 2025 harvest, has received 10 applications for a total of nearly $10 million. The commission had originally allocated $100 million for the program, but the underutilization prompted the decision to shift up to $80 million for low-interest loans instead.
“We’re giving you optionality,” said Gov. Kelly Armstrong, who chairs the commission.
Morgan said the Farm Financial Stability Loan Program “might run tight again” in the coming months, and the bank has the resources to further expand it if necessary.
“We’ve run the analysis. Our balance sheet could support an additional $100 million in this program,” Morgan said.
The CEO warned the commission he may return next month and request authorization to increase the funds available to the program.
“I just want to get in front of you early so you’re not maybe surprised by it,” Morgan said. “It is ramping up.”
There are still two and a half months left in the annual window in which agricultural producers work with their local banks and credit unions to renew the annual operating loans that make it possible to plant each year’s crop, Morgan said.
The deadline for farmers and ranchers to apply for low-interest loans through the program is June 9. Applications are accepted through local banks and credit unions in the state.
Farmers and ranchers have faced significant financial difficulties in recent years due to a combination of factors. Low commodity prices and high expenses, worsened by the impact of tariffs and a series of storms last summer, left many agricultural producers in a tight spot. Some state officials warned last year that many producers could be at risk of losing their farms or having to sell off land to make ends meet.
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