Kemper producers eligible for funding

Kemper County agricultural producers who suffered physical damage and losses caused be tornadoes, excessive rainfall and flash flooding caused by the February 5 storms may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans.

Administrator Richard Fordyce designated six (6) counties in Mississippi as the primary natural disaster area. This includes Lauderdale, Attala, Clarke, Jasper, Simpson, and Yazoo counties.

Producers in the contiguous counties are also eligible to apply for emergency loans. That includes Kemper, Neshoba, Carroll, Choctaw, Copiah, Covington, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lawrence, Leake, Madison, Montgomery, Newton, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Smith, Warren, Wayne, and Winston counties.

This natural disaster designation allows FSA to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters. Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation or the refinance of certain debts.

The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is November 19, 2020.

FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.

FSA has a variety of additional programs to help farmers recover from the impacts of this disaster. FSA programs that do not require a disaster declaration include: Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program; Emergency Conservation Program; Livestock Forage Disaster Program; Livestock Indemnity Program; Operating and Farm Ownership Loans; and the Tree Assistance Program.

Farmers may contact their local USDA service center for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at https://www.farmers.gov/recover.