Emergency loans available in county

Applications for emergency farm loans for losses caused by excessive rain that occurred July 1, 2007 are being accepted at the Farm Service Agency office located in Wharton, Gail A. Hoskins said today.

Wharton, Matagorda, Calhoun and Jackson counties are four of five in Texas recently named by Acting Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Connor as eligible for loans to cover part of actual production losses resulting from the rain.

Gail A. Hoskins 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 is 3.75 percent.

"As a general rule, a farmer must have suffered at least a 30 percent loss of production to be eligible for an FSA emergency loan," Gail A. Hoskins said. Farmers participating in the federal Crop Insurance program will have to consider proceeds from those programs in determining their loss.

"Applications for loans under this emergency designation will be accepted until June 30, 2008 but farmers should apply as soon as possible. Delays in applying could create backlogs in processing, with possible delays into the new farming season," Gail A. Hoskins said.

FSA is a credit agency of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. It 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 Wharton is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.