Most farmers and ranchers depend on agricultural income to repay their loans. The current widespread drought conditions across the U.S. are affecting both farmers and ranchers in their repayment ability. Ranchers depend on a certain amount of rainfall each year in order to grow pasture to feed their livestock. Farmers depend on the rainfall to grow their crops for harvest. No rain can equal little or no income and this can be detrimental to those farmers and ranchers who are largely dependent upon it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers a couple of relief programs through the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for farmers and ranchers who meet the eligibility requirements.

• The Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFDP) covers grazing losses due to drought or fire. The losses must have occurred on or after Oct. 1, 2011.
• The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) provides financial relief to producers who have non-insurable crops when loss of inventory, prevented planting, or low yields occur due to a natural disaster such as a drought.

Both of these programs have eligibility requirements and restrictions. Please visit www.fsa.usda.gov or contact your local Farm Service Agency for more information regarding these programs.

Droughts cause widespread damage but it hits the agriculture community especially hard as they depend on the agricultural products they produce to provide part, or all, of their income. As consumers, the welfare of the agriculture community affects us all.

If droughts are causing you issues with repayment, maybe now is the time to consider refinancing your farm real estate loan to ease your repayment requirements. Go to www.landloanspecialists.com to get started today.