USDA designates Childress County a primary natural disaster area
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Collingsworth and Hall counties also eligible for emergency loans
By Whitney Wyatt/The Red River Sun—
CHILDRESS – Childress County has been designated a primary natural disaster area, and producers who suffered losses because of drought may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.
“If farmers are interested in requesting an emergency loan or any type of assistance that is offered by FSA, they need to contact the FSA Farm Loan Office that administers loans in their county,” said Childress County FSA Senior Farm Loan Officer Teri Johnson. “The Childress County FSA Office administers loans in Childress, Cottle-King, Foard and Hardeman Counties.”
This particular disaster designation is for physical loss or production loss due to drought from Aug. 18, and continuing, Johnson said. EM loan applications will be received through April 21, 2021 for production and physical losses.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated Childress County and nine other Texas counties as primary natural disaster areas, according to a release from FSA. 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. Producers in the contiguous counties, including Collingsworth, Hall and Harmon Counties, are also eligible for emergency loans, the release stated.
“We have been in D-2 or greater drought status since June 16,” said Ronnie Jenkins, Collingsworth County Farm Service Agency executive director. “The farm loan office in Donley County does all the farm loans for the county (Collingsworth).”
Hall County also is administered out of the Donley County Office, Johnson said.
The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is April 21, 2021, the release stated. 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, according to the release.
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 www.farmers.gov/recover.
The nine other Texas counties designated as primary natural disaster areas are Crane, Ector, Hardeman, Martin, Midland, Pecos, Reagan, Upton and Winkler counties. The other contiguous counties eligible for emergency loans are Andrews, Borden, Brewster, Cottle, Crockett, Dawson, Foard, Gaines, Glasscock, Howard, Irion, Jeff Davis, Loving, Reeves, Sterling, Terrell, Tom Green, Ward and Wilbarger in Texas; Lea in New Mexico and Jackson in Oklahoma.
