Growers, Farmers And Ranchers May Be Eligible For Disaster Recovery Assistance
Release Date: November 4, 2004
Release Number: 1539-251
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Growers, farmers and ranchers seeking help to recover from Florida's hurricanes have several options available.
Loans are available to cover crop and equipment losses, and grants are available for farmland rehabilitation. There are also loans available for agriculture-related businesses and grants for repairs to farm homes.
Farmers and growers in 56 counties are eligible for more than $500 million in payments through the Farm Service Agency (FSA), which started making payments on Oct. 29. Sign-up continues for three programs:
- The Florida Citrus Disaster Program
- The Florida Nursery Crop Disaster Program
- The Florida Vegetable, Fruit and Tropical Fruit Disaster Program
The FSA offers Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) payments for rehabilitation of farmland damaged by natural disasters, including debris removal and repair of fencing for eligible livestock, and emergency loans to help qualified farmers cover crop, machinery and structural losses. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing over $63.25 million in ECP funding to Florida farmers.
The FSA's Rural Development Housing Program targets rural areas with populations of less than 20,000. Assistance includes grants to very low-income senior citizens and loans to low-income families in these areas.
The FSA has 37 local offices in Florida. Applicants are encouraged to call their local office, call the state office at 352-379-4500 or visit the agency's Disaster Assistance web site:
disaster.fsa.usda.gov/fl_hurricane.htm
Farmers and ranchers are eligible to apply to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for disaster recovery assistance relating to damages to their home and personal property. This includes rental assistance if the home is unlivable, repairs for wells and septic systems, minor home repairs, grants for serious needs that cannot be met by other government or volunteer programs, and unemployment assistance. To register with FEMA, call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585 for the speech- or hearing-impaired. The phone lines are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The recommended time to call is in the early morning or evenings, when call volume is low.
Loans from the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available to farmers and ranchers to repair or replace their disaster damaged primary residences and personal property. SBA can provide low-interest loans of up to $200,000 to repair disaster-damaged primary residences and up to $40,000 to replace personal property such as furniture and clothing. By law, business- related damages suffered by farmers and ranchers are not eligible under the SBA program.
On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's continuing mission within the new department is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages Citizen Corps, the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration.
Last Modified: Thursday, 04-Nov-2004 10:33:03