IDAHO, TEXAS COUNTIES ELIGIBLE FOR LOANS

December 27, 2001

Fifty-eight counties in Texas and 10 in Idaho are eligible for emergency loans because of drought and other weather-related disasters, USDA announced.

The disaster declaration makes all qualified farm operators in primary and contiguous disaster counties eligible for low-interest EM loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA has a variety of programs available, in addition to the emergency loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity.