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USDA Designates Nine Louisiana Parishes as Primary Natural Disaster Areas

USDA Designates Nine Louisiana Parishes as Primary Natural Disaster Areas
Emergency Support to Producers in Surrounding Parishes, Counties in Border States Also Available
WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2019 — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue designated nine Louisiana parishes as primary natural disaster areas. Producers in Bossier, Caddo, Evangeline, Grant, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Rapides and Red River parishes who suffered losses caused by excessive rains and flooding that occurred Sept. 1 through Dec. 10, 2018, may be eligible for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans. This natural disaster area 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. Producers in the contiguous Louisiana parishes of Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Bienville, Concordia, De Soto, Iberville, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Ouachita, Richland, Sabine, St. Landry, St. Martin, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana and Winn, along with Ashley, Chicot, Lafayette, Miller and Union counties in Arkansas, and Cass, Harrison, Marion and Panola counties in Texas, are also eligible to apply for emergency loans. The deadline to apply for these emergency loans is Oct. 15, 2019. 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.