Hurricane Loan Help for Florida Farmers

If you are a Florida farmer there may be assistance available to you in the form of a loan from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) which offers the Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program to support farmers and aquaculture producers affected by natural disasters. This program provides low-interest or interest-free loans to help restore, repair, or replace essential physical property, such as fences, equipment, and buildings, or to remove vegetative debris from the property.

Eligible applicants must own a bona fide farm operation on land classified as agricultural or lease sovereign submerged land. The farm or aquaculture facility must be located in a qualifying county affected by a declared disaster, such as Hurricane Helene. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and cannot have accepted financial assistance from other state or federal disaster relief programs. 

The maximum loan amount is $500,000, with a term of up to 10 years. Applicants can receive no more than one loan per application period and a maximum of five loans within any three-year period. Structures built with loan funds must comply with storm-hardening standards.

Here is a link to the FDACS site to see if you qualify and/or need more information. Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program / Agriculture Industry / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (fdacs.gov)