FSA offers storm help

Dec. 14--The storms that hit Henderson County in late October caused considerable flooding in the area, but the Farm Service Agency may be able to help.

The FSA announced Monday applications for emergency farm loans for losses caused by severe storms, tornados, straight-line winds, and flooding that occurred between Oct. 22, through Oct. 31, are being accepted at the Farm Service Agency office located in Tyler as of Monday. The peak of the precipitation in Henderson County came on Oct. 24, when Athens recorded 10.38 inches of rain.

Henderson County is one of 42 counties in Texas recently named by President Obama as eligible for loans to cover part of actual production and/or physical losses resulting from the disaster.

FSA official Joseph Grier stated that 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 2.375 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 a FSA emergency loan under the disaster designation," Grier 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 must be considered in determining their total loss.

"Applications for loans under this emergency designation will be accepted until July 25, 2016, but farmers should apply as soon as possible," Grier said. "Delays in applying could create backlogs in processing, with possible delays into the new farming seasons."

FSA is a credit agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is authorized to provide disaster emergency loans to recognized farms who work at, and rely on farming for a substantial part of their living. Eligibility is extended to individual farms 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 is located at 4209 Republic Dr., Tyler, TX 75701. The telephone number is 903-561-2050, with office hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additional information regarding Disaster Assistance Programs may be found online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.

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