County declared disaster area due to drought conditions
Applications for emergency farm loans for losses caused by drought that began Aug. 13, and continuing, are being accepted at the Farm Service Agency office located in Sulphur Springs.
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County declared disaster area due to drought conditions
Applications for emergency farm loans for losses caused by drought that began Aug. 13, and continuing, are being accepted at the Farm Service Agency office located in Sulphur Springs.
Last week it was announced Wood was one of eight east Texas counties designated as a primary natural disaster area.
They are among the numerous counties in Texas recently named by the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, eligible for loans to cover part of actual production and physical losses resulting during this time period.
Heather Thompson, farm loan manager, said farmers may be eligible for loans of up to 100 percent 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 crop production or suffered any physical loss to be eligible for an FSA emergency loan under this disaster designation," Thompson said.
Producers participating in the Federal Crop Insurance program will have to consider proceeds from those programs in determining their production loss. Additionally, any insurance proceeds received by producers as a result of the physical loss will have to be considered.
"Applications for loans under this emergency designation will be accepted until April 21, 2014 but farmers should apply as soon as possible. Delays in applying could create backlogs in processing, with possible delays into the new farming season," Thompson said.
FSA is a credit agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and 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 office in Sulphur Springs is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and is located at 530 North Hillcrest Drive in Sulphur Springs.
