FSA Accepting Emergency Loan Applications for Area Counties

TYLER — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency is now accepting applications for emergency farm loans due to damages and losses caused by drought beginning September 22 and continuing in Rusk, Smith, and Upshur Counties. Smith County Farm Loan Manager Joseph Grier asks farmers who want to apply for emergency loans to submit their applications as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is May 31, 2016, but Grier says if farmers wait too long, a backlog will develop and cause delays. Generally, farmers who have lost 30% of their production or sustained any physical loss due to the disaster are eligible for the emergency loans, according to an FSA news release.

The local FSA office is located at 4209 Republic Drive in Tyler. The telephone number is (903) 561-2050 with office hours from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can go to http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov for additional information regarding Disaster Assistance Programs.