Texas Farmers and Ranchers Have Options for Disaster Assistance

AUSTIN, Texas – When disasters such as the May 4 through June 19 storms and floods strike, farmers and ranchers have options for help.

Farmers and ranchers affected by the May 4 to June 19 storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds may be eligible for assistance from several agencies and should apply today.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may assist survivors who are farmers and ranchers with some immediate needs including:

  • Grants to pay for temporary housing and minor home repairs,
  • Grants to replace personal property, including clothing,
  • Grants to pay for serious immediate needs not covered by insurance.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) may offer low-interest loans to farmers and ranchers to rebuild or repair their primary home and replace lost or damaged personal property.

  • To begin the application process, call FEMA at 800-621-FEMA (3362), TTY 800-462-7585, or for those who use 711 or Video Relay Services (VRS), call 800-621-3362. Survivors may also apply online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov

Other programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Texas Farm Service Agency (FSA) include:

Emergency loans 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, and
  • Refinance certain debts, excluding real estate.
  • Provide loan applicants up to 100 percent of their total actual production and/or physical losses. Production losses must not exceed 30 percent. The maximum loan is $500,000.
  • Non-Insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program provides financial assistance for non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters, including grass for grazing. Eligible producers must have purchased coverage for 2015.
  • Livestock Indemnity Program with payments to eligible producers for livestock death losses in excess of normal mortality due to the disaster,
  • Tree Assistance Program for nursery tree growers, vineyards and orchardists.
  • Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program that provides emergency relief for feed losses (including lost grazing days and baled forage) and/or water shortages, due to a disaster.
  • Emergency Conservation Program that provides emergency funding to rehabilitate land severely damaged by a natural disaster, including fencing.

Texas leads the nation in the number of farms and ranches with 248,800 farms and ranches covering more than 130 million acres. The economic impact of food and fiber grown in Texas amounts to more than $100 billion per year.

To date, the FSA has identified dozens of disaster counties and contiguous counties where farmers and ranchers are eligible for FSA emergency loans. To get more information on FSA services, go online to the U.S. Department of Agriculture website at: www.fsa.usda.gov.

To locate your nearest FSA County office, visit: http://offices.usda.gov.

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All FEMA disaster assistance will be provided without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex (including sexual harassment), religion, national origin, age, disability, limited English proficiency, economic status, or retaliation. If you believe your civil rights are being violated, call 800-621-3362 or 800-462-7585(TTY/TDD).

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. 

The SBA is the federal government’s primary source of money for the long-term rebuilding of disaster-damaged private property. SBA helps businesses of all sizes, private non-profit organizations, homeowners and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or disaster-damaged personal property. These disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries and do not duplicate benefits of other agencies or organizations. For more information, applicants may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/disaster. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.

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Texas Farmers and Ranchers Have Options for Disaster Assistance

Businesses, Nonprofit Organizations Get Smart About Low-Interest Disaster Loans

WINDSOR, Conn. — Businesses and nonprofit organizations are discovering a low-interest disaster loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration is a smart business decision.

Disaster loans provide funding for private sector recovery and are being used to:

 

  • Repair or replace buildings and business assets, such as equipment and inventory;
  • Meet payroll and lease obligations during business downtime caused by the disaster;
  • Refinance existing liens; and
  • Make improvements to protect against future damage.

“Disaster loans from the SBA are the major source of federal disaster recovery assistance,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Albert Lewis of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “The interest rates are low—as low as 4 percent for businesses and 3 percent for nonprofits.”

SBA offers businesses and nonprofits two types of disaster loans: a Physical Disaster Loan and an Economic Injury Disaster Loan.

Physical Disaster Loans are used to repair or replace damaged buildings and business assets. Economic Injury Disaster Loans help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, aquaculture businesses and most private nonprofits meet financial obligations that they cannot meet because of the disaster.

Business owners may also be eligible to refinance existing liens or mortgages.

Applications from the SBA are mailed to most survivors who register for assistance with FEMA. No one is obligated to accept a loan if offered.

SBA low-interest disaster loans for businesses have several advantages:

 

  • SBA requires no collateral for physical loans less than $14,000 or economic injury loans less than $5,000. SBA requires the borrower to pledge as collateral only what is available, plus satisfactory credit and the ability to repay.

 

  • Applicants don’t have to wait for insurance settlements to obtain loans.

 

  • Loans are written for a length of time appropriate to the type of loan, but SBA may make adjustments in the length to lower the monthly payments.

 

  • SBA offers mitigation loans to help pay for improvements to reduce potential for future damage. These mitigation funds are available for up to 20 percent of the total amount of disaster damage.

 

  • SBA never charges an application fee or points for its disaster loans.

By law, SBA business loans cannot exceed $2 million.  If a business is a major employer, SBA may waive the limit.

The deadline to file for a Physical Damage Disaster Loan is Dec. 31. The deadline for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan is July 31, 2013.

No one is obligated to accept a loan if approved. SBA gives applicants six months to decide whether to accept a loan.

SBA has opened a Business Recovery Center in Fairfield County at the Fairfield County SCORE office, 111 East Ave., Norwalk, CT  06851. The center is staffed from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

The SBA offers online an application through its Electronic Loan Application site at https://DisasterLoan.SBA.gov/ela. Survivors can call the SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955, or visit the SBA’s website at www.sba.gov/sandy.

 

Originally posted here: 

Businesses, Nonprofit Organizations Get Smart About Low-Interest Disaster Loans