USDA farm loans available

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated 83 Texas counties as primary natural disaster areas. Producers who suffered losses due to recent drought may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans. 

The Texas counties with the primary natural disas-ter designation include Shackelford and surrounding counties.

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.

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is Nov. 7, 2020.

FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. 

Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information, or they can go online at farmers.gov/recover.