Five Missouri counties have been designated as primary natural disaster areas by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Producers in Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Holt and Ray counties who suffered losses caused by recent excessive rainfall and flooding may be eligible for USDA Farm Service Agency emergency loans.

This natural disaster designation allows FSA to extend 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 Missouri counties of Caldwell, Carroll, Clay, Clinton, DeKalb, Gentry, Jackson, Lafayette, Nodaway and Platte, along with Fremont and Page counties in Iowa; Atchison and Doniphan counties in Kansas; and Nemaha, Otoe and Richardson counties in Nebraska, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans.

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is Feb. 25, 2020.

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.

Source: USDA Farm Service Agency, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.