How Much Do Emergency Storage Loans Pay? An Economic Analysis of North Dakota’s 2025 Grain Storage & Facility Rebuilder Programs

In June 2025, a large derecho–tornado weather system damaged or destroyed an estimated 50 to 80 million bushels of on‑farm grain‑handling capacity across North Dakota (AgWeek, 2025). To prevent post‑harvest losses and to alleviate working-capital shortfalls, the Bank of North Dakota rolled out two emergency initiatives: (1) a Temporary Grain Storage Support program and (2) a Facility Repair & Replacement program. These are collectively referred to as the 2025 Grain Storage & Facility Rebuilder Programs. This white paper uses a representative farm (1,000 acres of corn and 1,000 acres of soybeans) to simulate the benefits of the program to North Dakota farmers, as well as the fiscal cost for the State of North Dakota. We find that the programs generate large net economic gains when farms utilize the program instead of entirely foregoing on-farm storage. When farms use the programs as a substitute to privately financed loans, the programs represent a transfer from State funds to farm operations.