Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated three Texas counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Panola, Rusk and Zapata counties who suffered losses due to a recent drought may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.
This designation allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganizing a farming operation or refinance certain debts.
Producers in the contiguous counties of Cherokee, Gregg, Harrison, Jim Hogg, Nacogdoches, Shelby, Smith, Starr and Webb in Texas, along with Caddo and De Soto parishes in Louisiana, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is May 13, 2019.
FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
FSA has a variety of addition programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; the Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; and the Tree Assistance Program.
Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at https://www.farmers.gov/recover.
Source: USDA Farm Service Agency – Texas