Farm Loans
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
FARM SERVICE AGENCY FACT SHEET
March 2015
Emergency Loan Program
OVERVIEW Are citizens or permanent residents of the
United States;
USDAs Farm Service Agency (FSA) provides Have suffered at least a 30 percent loss
emergency loans to help producers recover in crop production or a physical loss to
from production and physical losses due to livestock, livestock products, real estate or
drought, flooding, other natural disasters or chattel property;
quarantine. Have an acceptable credit history;
Are unable to receive credit from
LOAN USES commercial sources;
Can provide collateral to secure the loan
Emergency loan funds may be used to: and;
Have repayment ability.
Restore or replace essential property;
Pay all or part of production costs LOAN REQUIREMENTS
associated with the disaster year;
Pay essential family living expenses; FSA loan requirements are different from
Reorganize the farming operation and; those of other lenders. Some of the more
Refinance certain debts. significant differences are the following:
ELIGIBILITY Borrowers must keep acceptable farm
records;
Emergency loans may be made to farmers Borrowers must operate in accordance
and ranchers who: with a farm plan they develop and agree to
with local FSA staff and;
Own or operate land located in a county Borrowers may be required to participate
declared by the President or designated in a financial management training
by the Secretary of Agriculture as a program and obtain crop insurance.
primary disaster area or quarantine area.
All counties contiguous to the declared, COLLATERAL IS REQUIRED
designated, or quarantined primary
counties also are eligible for emergency All emergency loans must be fully
loans. A disaster designation by the FSA collateralized. The specific type of collateral
administrator authorizes emergency loan may vary depending on the loan purpose,
assistance for physical losses only in the repayment ability and the individual
designated and contiguous counties; circumstances of the applicant. If applicants
Are established family farm operators cannot provide adequate collateral, their
and have sufficient farming or ranching repayment ability may be considered as
experience; collateral to secure the loan. A first lien is
required on property or products acquired,
produced or refinanced with loan funds.
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FACT SHEET
Emergency Loan Program March 2015
LOAN LIMIT
Producers can borrow up to 100 percent of
actual production or physical losses to a
maximum amount of $500,000.
LOAN TERMS
Loans for crop, livestock and non-real estate
losses are normally repaid within one to
seven years, depending on the loan purpose,
repayment ability and collateral available
as loan security. In special circumstances,
terms of up to 20 years may be authorized.
Loans for physical losses to real estate are
normally repaid within 30 years. In certain
circumstances, repayment may be made over a
maximum of 40 years.
CURRENT INTEREST RATE
To find the current emergency loan interest
rate, visit www.fsa.usda.gov/FSA/webapp?area
=home&subject=fmlp&topic=fir.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
________________________________________________________
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination
Applications for emergency loans must be against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on
received within eight months of the countys the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender
identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs,
disaster or quarantine designation date. marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or all
or part of an individuals income is derived from any public assis-
tance program, or protected genetic information in employment or
FOR MORE INFORMATION in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department.
(Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employ-
ment activities.) Persons with disabilities, who wish to file a program
For more information on FSA disaster complaint, write to the address below or if you require alternative
assistance, visit http://disaster.usda.fsa.gov. means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large
print, audiotape, etc.) please contact USDAs TARGET Center at (202)
For more information on FSA farm loans, 720-2600 (voice and TDD). Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing,
visit www.fsa.usda.gov/farmloans. Further or have speech disabilities and wish to file either an EEO or program
complaint, please contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at
information about this and other FSA programs (800) 877-8339 or (800) 845-6136 (in Spanish).
is available from local FSA offices or on the
If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination,
FSA website at www.fsa.usda.gov. To find complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found
your local FSA office, visit online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at
any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may
http://offices.usda.gov. also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the
form. Send your completed complaint form or letter by mail to U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 In-
dependence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202)
690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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