Emergency loan application available through Oct. 7

Daviess County is among 55 counties in Missouri eligible for FSA disaster loans due to a severe winter ice storm which occurred on Jan. 29. Applications for assistance will be accepted at the county office of the USDA, Farm Service Agency, 209 Ash Street, Gallatin, for physical and production losses caused by this disaster. Applications will be accepted through Oct. 7, 2002.

Loans for physical losses must be used to replace or repair damage to buildings, fences or to compensate the farmer for losses of basic livestock, stored crops, or supplies on hand, equipment, etc, that was lost due to the disaster. Loans for production losses may also be used to buy feed, seed, fertilizer, livestock or to make payments on real estate or chattel debts. Generally, loans for production losses cannot be approved until crops have completed their production cycle or have been harvested.

In order to qualify, a farmer must have suffered a 30% loss in production or an actual physical loss that was essential to the successful operation of the farm.

Loans for actual losses are made at an interest rate of 3.75% for emergency loans to those eligible applicants who are unable to obtain the actual credit needed from another source. All loan programs of the Farm Service Agency are conducted on a non-discriminatory basis.