(KLZA)  Farm Service Agency (FSA) Nemaha County Office announced that family farmers in three Nebraska counties are eligible to apply for low interest Farm Service Agency (FSA) Emergency (EM) loans due to physical and production losses caused by drought and excessive heat that occurred on April 1, 2012 and continuing. 
    These Nebraska counties became eligible for this assistance because they are contiguous to one or more of the 97 Missouri counties that were designated on July 17, 2012 by the Secretary of Agriculture.  Those Nebraska counties are: Nemaha, Otoe and Richardson.   
    Family farmers interested in finding out if they are eligible should contact  Denise M. Lickteig, Farm Loan Manager, for information.  They can be reached Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at the Nemaha County FSA Office at 918 26th Street  Suite A in Auburn or by phone at 402-274-4987.
    Emergency loan applications are available and must be submitted through the local FSA county office from any applicant who qualifies for a physical or production loss (at least a 30 percent reduction from normal) in a single enterprise from this disaster in the counties.  To qualify for an EM loan, an applicant must be an established family farm operator; provide evidence of having suffered a qualifying physical or production loss; be unable to obtain suitable credit from a source other than FSA.  The low interest loans may cover up to 100 percent of their actual production losses, up to a maximum amount of $500,000.  The applicants must show ability to repay the loan and the loan must be adequately secured.  FSA loans for production losses may be used to buy feed, seed, fertilizer, livestock, or to refinance certain debts.  FSA loans for physical losses may be used to repair or replace the property that was damaged or lost.  The July 2012 interest rate for EM loans is 2.25%.  The deadline for submitting applications is March 18, 2013.
    In addition to the emergency (EM) Loan Program, FSA has other loan programs and disaster assistance programs which can be considered in assisting farmers to recover from their losses.  Please contact your local FSA Service Center or access additional information about FSA Disaster Assistance and Farm Loan programs at www.fsa.usda.gov/dafl.
    While this release pertains to the availability of FSA programs, other federal agencies such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and SBA (Small Business Administration) may also have assistance available to the public.  Information is available from these two agencies at the following websites; www.fema.gov and www.sba.gov.