Updated: Shasta, Tehama can get farm loans

Tehama, Alameda and Marin counties and their neighbors have been named as eligible for USDA emergency farm loans because of losses from drought damage this year.

The contiguous counties also receiving aid are Butte, Contra Costa, Glenn, Mendocino, Plumas, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Shasta, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Trinity counties.

Farmers in those counties have eight months to apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual losses, a news release explains. Various eligibility requirements apply, such as whether the farm as suffered at least a 30 percent loss and whether the farm was unable to find credit elsewhere. Applicants must complete certifications of disaster losses.

Applications can be filed at FSA service centers.

Here is the press release from the USDA's Farm Service Agency:

Pursuant to the Secretary of Agriculture’s designation of an emergency in the state of California on
May 31 , 2012, Tehama, Alameda and Marin Counties has been named eligible for USDA emergency farm loans because of physical and production losses based on damages and losses caused by drought covering the 2012 crop year.

In addition, the following contiguous counties are eligible:

Butte
Contra Costa
Glenn
Mendocino
Plumas
San Joaquin
Santa Clara
Shasta
Sonoma
Stanislaus
Trinity


Farmers in all fourteen (14) counties have eight months to apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual losses. Some of the eligibility requirements are listed below:

Have suffered at least 30 percent loss of normal production directly related to the above-cited cause,
Be able to repay the loan and any other loans,
Be Unable to obtain credit elsewhere,
Have adequate security,
Have multi-peril crop insurance, if available, and
Meet other eligibility criteria.

All applicants must complete a certification of disaster losses, which reflects the exact date(s) and nature of the designated disaster and how it caused the loss or damage. Crop insurance field reports may be a source for documenting losses directly related to the cited cause.

The authorization from Farm Service Agency (FSA) to accept Emergency loans under this authorization expires on January 31, 2013. Applications should be filed with your FSA Service Center at:
2 Sutter Street, Suite C, Red Bluff, CA 96080.