Administrator Zach Ducheneaux designated six (6) counties in the state of Mississippi as the primary natural disaster area. Producers in Benton, Neshoba, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Tippah and Winston counties who suffered physical damage and casualties from a tornado and high winds on April 13, 2022 may be eligible for United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency . (FSA) Emergency Loans.
This natural disaster designation allows the FSA to provide much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs, including replacing essential items like equipment or livestock, restructuring a farm, or refinancing certain debts.
Producers in the adjacent counties of Alcorn, Attala, Choctaw, Clay, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Lowndes, Marshall, Newton, Prentiss, Union and Webster in Mississippi can also apply for emergency loans.
The deadline for applying for these emergency loans is January 25, 2023.
The FSA will review the loans based on the extent of the losses, the collateral available and the ability to repay.
The FSA has a variety of additional programs in place to help farmers recover from the effects of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Livestock, Honey Bee and Farmed Fish Emergency Relief Program; emergency preparedness program; Forage Disaster Program; livestock insurance program; business and agricultural property loans; and the Tree Assistance Program.
Farmers can contact their local USDA service center for more information on eligibility requirements and application processes for these and other programs. You can also find more information online at https://www.farmers.gov/recover.
