USDA designates 11 Texas counties primary natural disaster areas
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Emergency support in surrounding counties available
Well-established dry land cotton just east of Wellington is probably some of the best in the county, according to AgriLife Extension Agent Kenny Patterson. “As an average, our county’s dry land cotton on a scale of 1-10 is a 4-5,” he said. “A lot of producers are praying for rain in August in hopes of making good crops. Also, a lot of dry land cotton has burnt up in cover and has been marked as a zero production.” Patterson explained that basically the cover crop for erosion control zapped the moisture out of the ground, and the cotton crop suffered. (The Red River Sun/Bev Odom)
Special to The Sun—
WASHINGTON —Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated 11 Texas counties as primary natural disaster areas July 9.
Producers who suffered losses due to recent natural disasters may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.
This natural disaster 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 the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of certain debts.
Drought – Producers in Briscoe, Floyd, Gray and Motley counties who suffered losses due to recent drought may be eligible for emergency loans.
Producers in the contiguous Texas counties of Armstrong, Carson, Collingsworth, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens, Donley, Hale, Hall, Hemphill, King, Lubbock, Roberts, Swisher and Wheeler, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
Excessive Moisture – Producers in Bowie, Franklin,
and Red River counties who suffered losses due to excessive moisture that occurred Oct. 1, 2019 through June 9, 2020 may be eligible for emergency loans.
Producers in the contiguous Texas counties of Camp, Cass, Delta, Hopkins, Lamar, Morris, Titus and Wood, along with Little River and Miller counties in Arkansas, and Choctaw and McCurtain counties in Oklahoma are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
Freeze – Producers in Clay County who suffered losses due to a freeze that occurred on April 15, 2020, may be eligible for emergency loans.
Producers in the contiguous Texas counties of Archer, Jack, Montague and Wichita, along with Cotton and Jefferson counties in Oklahoma, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
Excessive Rain and Flooding – Producers in Collin County who suffered losses due to excessive rain and flooding that has occurred since Oct. 1, 2019 may be eligible for emergency loans.
Producers in the contiguous Texas counties of Dallas, Denton, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt and Rockwall, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
Excessive Rain – March-April 2020 – Producers in Ellis County who suffered losses due to excessive rain that occurred March 1 through April 30, 2020, may be eligible for emergency loans.
Producers in the contiguous Texas counties of Dallas, Henderson, Hill, Johnson, Kaufman, Navarro and Tarrant, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
Excessive Rain – Since Sept. 2019 – Producers in Hunt County who suffered losses due to excessive rainfall that has occurred since Sept. 1, 2019 may be eligible for emergency loans.
Producers in the contiguous Texas counties of Collin, Delta, Fannin, Hopkins, Kaufman, Rains, Rockwall and Van Zandt, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.
The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is March 2, 2021.
FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
FSA has a variety of additional programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program, Emergency Conservation Program, Livestock Forage Disaster Program, Livestock Indemnity Program, Operating and Farm Ownership Loans 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 farmers.gov/recover.
