NEWS

USDA extends emergency loans to producers in all Louisiana parishes recovering from droughts

May 4, 2022

For Immediate Release:               May 4, 2022

Contact: Jennifer Finley, Press Secretary – 225-922-1256 Megan Moore, Public Information Director – 225-935-2179 presssecretary@LDAF.la.gov

USDA extends emergency loans to producers in all Louisiana parishes recovering from droughts

BATON ROUGE –

Over the past two weeks, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued several Stakeholder Notices for natural disaster declarations due to drought. These Secretarial natural disaster designations allow the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs, including replacing essential items such as equipment or livestock, the reorganization of a farming operation, or the refinance of certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available, and repayment ability.

“We urge every farmer to contact their local Farm Services Agency for program eligibility requirements,” said the LDAF Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M. “The application deadline for assistance varies by notice, but they all fall in December.”

Every Louisiana parish is covered as a primary disaster area or a contiguous parish. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, these parishes suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.

To view the notices, visit USDA Designates 56 Louisiana Parishes as Primary Natural Disaster Areas and USDA Designates Two Louisiana Parishes as Primary Natural Disaster Areas.

To contact your local FSA office, visit USDA Service Center Locator.

More Resources

On farmers.gov, the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster Assistance-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool can help you determine program or loan options. To file a Notice of Loss or to ask questions about available programs, contact your local  USDA Service Center.

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