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How to Get a Farm Emergency Loan

What it is

A farm emergency loan is a loan provided by the United States Disaster Assistance Agency or FSA. It provides emergency assistance to help producers recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding, other natural disasters, and/or quarantine. Emergency loans can 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 and refinance some types of debt.

Farmers can borrow up to 100 percent of the actual production or physical losses up to a maximum amount of $500,000. Loans for crop, livestock, and non-real estate losses usually have terms of one to seven years. This is determined by the loan purpose, repayment ability, and available collateral. In some circumstances, longer terms of up to 20 years are available. Loans for physical losses to real estate can have terms of up to 30 years and certain circumstances can allow repayment over 40 years.

Who it's for

Many producers at one time or another will find that they need financing to recover from disaster. Emergency loans may be made available to farmers or ranchers who own or operate land located in an area declared as a disaster area by the Secretary of Agriculture, are established family farm operators with sufficient experience, are citizens or permanent residents of the United States, have suffered at least 30 percent loss in crop production or physical loss to livestock, livestock products, real estate or chattel property, have an acceptable credit history, are unable to receive credit from commercial sources, can provide collateral to secure the loan, and have repayment ability.

What you need to do to apply

Applications for farm emergency loans must be received within eight months of the disaster or quarantine designation date. Loan requirements are typically different compared to those of other financial institutions. In order to be accepted, borrowers must keep acceptable farm records, borrowers must operate in accordance with a farm plan they develop and agree to with local FSA staff and borrowers may need to participate in financial management training programs. These loans are secured by collateral.

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