Help is at hand for Warren County farmers who lost crops due to heavy fall rains and near-flood river levels.

“Emergency loans for farmers, ranchers and operators are available through the Warren County Office of the Farm Service Agency,” William B. Miller, FSA Farm Loan Manager, said Monday.

For information

The Warren County Farm Service Agency is at 2660 Sherman Ave. William B. Miller, farm loan manager, can be reached at 601-630-0278, ext. 2.

On Nov. 13, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack declared 79 of Mississippi’s 82 counties as disaster areas because of spring and fall flooding, summer drought and excessive rainfall.

The declaration opened the way for Warren County to be eligible for federal disaster assistance, and applications will be accepted by FSA through July 13.

Farmers qualifying for emergency loans may borrow up to 100 percent of their actual production loss or the amount needed to restore their operation to its pre-disaster condition, whichever is less. The new emergency loan and outstanding principal balance of any existing emergency loan owed by the applicant or any individual member of an entity cannot exceed $500,000.

FSA emergency loans cover losses from designated disasters and are made to qualified farmers who cannot obtain credit from other lenders in the local area.

October rainfall in Warren County was more than four times the usual levels, damaging soybean crops in particular. Fall crop damage came on the heels of late spring floods that ruined sprouting corn crops. Losses were also seen statewide in cotton, sweet potato and rice crops, and better-than-average pecan yields were threatened by fall rains delaying harvests.