Sen. Carper Highlights Emergency Farm Loans for Drought Assistance in Delaware

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) highlighted the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency emergency loans to provide relief to farmers, ranchers and agricultural producers in Kent and Sussex Counties suffering from the effects of this year’s record drought. Recently, the USDA declared Kent and Sussex Counties in Delaware disaster areas due to damage caused by recent extreme weather conditions.

“This year’s record drought has wreaked havoc on many of Delaware’s farmers and agricultural producers,” said Sen. Carper. “Just last week, I visited a farm in Sussex County and saw firsthand the damage this drought has caused for Delaware’s corn growers. I will continue working to ensure that Congress passes a comprehensive Farm Bill to provide aid to our farmers and to reform many of our agriculture programs. Meanwhile, farmers and producers can take advantage of federal loans to help mitigate losses. These emergency loans can help Delawareans recover from the effects of harsh or severe weather, and I encourage any applicable farmers, growers, producers and businesses suffering from this drought to apply for them.”

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides emergency loans to help producers who own or operate located in a county declared by the President or designated by the Secretary of Agriculture as a primary disaster area or quarantine area. All counties contiguous to the declared, designated, or quarantined primary counties also are eligible for Emergency loans.

Emergency loan funds may be used to:

• Restore or replace essential property;
• Pay all or part of production costs associated with the disaster year;
• Pay essential family living expenses;
• Reorganize the farming operation; or
• Refinance certain debts, excluding real estate.

The maximum loan amount for an Emergency loan is $500,000. Due to this year’s severe weather, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently cut the interest rate on these emergency loans to 2.25% from 3.75%.

For more information on these emergency loans, please visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov/.