FSA offering loans for flood damages

While local farmers are assessing damage from an Aug. 18 storm, the state’s FSA Executive Director announced last week emergency loans are available for losses from ongoing flooding.

Any Montgomery or Mills County farmer who suffered losses from floods starting May 25 may be available for the emergency loan.

The FSA makes emergency loans to eligible family farmers which will enable them to return to their normal operations if they sustained qualifying losses resulting from natural disasters.

Physical loss loans may be made to repair or replace damaged or destroyed physical property, including farm buildings, fixtures to the real estate, equipment, livestock, perennial crops, fruit and nut bearing trees, and harvested or stored crops.

Applicants must be unable to obtain credit from other usual sources to qualify for the loan program. The interest rate for emergency loans is 3.75 percent.

Most of the loans are up for up to seven years, however, if the loan is secured only on crops, it must be repaid when the next crop year’s income is received.

Loans to replace fixtures to the real estate may be scheduled for repayment up to 40 years.

Applications are available at the Montgomery County FSA office at 2505 N. Broadway. The deadline is April 23.