Emergency Farm Loan Applications being Accepted - January 27, 2012

Applications for emergency farm loans for damages and losses caused by drought, excessive heat, high winds and wildfires, are being accepted at the Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices located in Center, San Augustine, Jasper and Carthage, TX, FSA Farm Loan Manager, Clay Blacksher, said today.

Shelby, Sabine, San Augustine, Jasper, Newton, Tyler and Panola Counties are seven (7) of the two hundred thirteen (213) counties in Texas recently named by the Secretary of Agriculture as eligible for loans to cover part of actual production and physical losses resulting from drought, excessive heat, high winds and wildfires which occurred January 1, 2011 and continuing.

Mr. Blacksher said farmers may be eligible for loans of up to 100% of their actual losses or the operating loan needed to continue the agricultural business, whichever is less. For farmers unable to obtain credit from private commercial lenders, the interest rate is 3.75 percent.

“As a general rule, a farmer must have suffered at least a 30 percent loss of production to be eligible for an FSA emergency loan,” Mr. Blacksher said. Farmers participating in the Federal Crop Insurance program will have to consider proceeds from those programs in determining their loss.

“Applications for loans under this emergency designation will be accepted until April 24, 2012, but farmers should apply as soon as possible. Delays in applying could create backlogs in processing, with possible delays into the new farming season,” Mr. Blacksher said.

FSA is a credit agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is authorized to provide disaster emergency loans to recognized farmers who work at and rely on farming for a substantial part of their living. Eligibility is extended to individual farmers who meet U.S. citizenship requirements and to farming partnerships, corporations or cooperatives in which U.S. citizenship requirements are met by individuals holding a majority interest.

The FSA offices are open from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday. Additional Information regarding Disaster Assistance Programs may be found online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.