New York Farm Bureau is encouraging farmers affected by Hurricane Irene to carefully document their damage and report to the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “We’re telling our farmers to take photos, take notes and make sure they have a record even if they don’t know the full extent of the damage,” said Dean Norton, President of New York Farm Bureau.The New York Farm Bureau website www.nyfb.org and the FSA website have a list of the federal agricultural relief programs that are available.
FSA provides emergency loans to help producers recover from production and physical losses due to natural disasters. Emergency loans may be made to farmers who:
own or operate land in a county declared a disaster area or a contiguous county;
are established family farm operators and have sufficient experience;
have an acceptable credit history;
are unable to receive credit from commercial sources;
can provide collateral to secure the loan; and
have repayment ability.
Loans for crop, livestock and non-real estate losses are normally repaid within 1 to 7 years. Loans for physical losses to real estate are normally repaid within 30 years. In certain circumstances, repayment may be made over 40 years.In addition to loans, disaster declaration will make farms eligible for livestock indemnity and some other programs.
