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USDA Offers Disaster Assistance to Agricultural Producers in Texas Impacted by Recent Severe Weather, Tornadoes and Flooding

COLLEGE STATION/TEMPLE, Texas, April 10, 2025 – Agricultural operations in Texas have actually been considerably impacted by recent severe weather condition, tornadoes and flooding. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has technical and financial assistance offered to help farmers and livestock manufacturers recover from these adverse weather condition occasions. Impacted manufacturers should call their regional USDA Service Center to report losses and find out more about program alternatives offered to assist in their recovery from crop, land, facilities, and animals losses and damages.

USDA Disaster Assistance

Producers who experience livestock deaths in excess of regular death might be qualified for the Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP). To take part in LIP, producers will need to provide acceptable documents of death losses resulting from an eligible unfavorable weather event and need to submit a notice of loss and program payment application to the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) no later than March 2, 2026, for 2025 fiscal year losses. Livestock manufacturers who experience losses related to tornadoes need to talk to their regional FSA office for LIP eligibility requirements.

Meanwhile, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) offers qualified manufacturers with compensation for feed and grazing losses. For ELAP, manufacturers are needed to complete a notification of loss and submit a payment application to their local FSA office no behind the annual program application due date, March 2, 2026, for 2025 fiscal year losses.

Additionally, eligible orchardists and nursery tree growers might be eligible for cost-share assistance through the Tree Assistance Program (TAP) to replant or fix up qualified trees, bushes or vines. TAP complements the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) or crop insurance protection, which covers the crop however not the plants or trees in all cases. For TAP, a program application should be submitted within 90 days of the disaster occasion or the date when the loss of the trees, bushes or vines is obvious.

“Impacted manufacturers must prompt report all crop, animals and farm facilities damages and losses to their regional FSA county office as soon as possible,” stated Erasmo “Eddie” Trevino, Deputy State Executive Director for FSA in Texas. “As you assess your operation, take some time to gather important files you will require to get assistance, including farm records, herd stock, receipts and photos of damages or losses.”

FSA likewise provides a variety of direct and guaranteed farm loans, consisting of operating and emergency situation farm loans, to manufacturers not able to financing. Producers in counties with a primary or contiguous catastrophe classification might be qualified for low interest emergency situation loans to assist them recover from production and physical losses. Loans can help producers replace important residential or commercial property, purchase inputs like animals, devices, feed and seed, cover family living expenses or refinance farm-related debts and other needs.

Additionally, FSA offers several loan servicing options readily available for borrowers who are not able to make scheduled payments on their farm loan programs debt to the firm because of reasons beyond their control.

The Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL) provides low-interest funding so manufacturers can construct, repair, replace or update facilities to keep commodities. Loan terms differ from 3 to 12 years. Producers who sustained damage to or loss of their equipment or infrastructure funded by the FSFL program need to call their insurance representative and their regional USDA Service Center. Producers in need of on-farm storage ought to also call USDA.

Risk Management

Producers with NAP protection should report crop damage to their local FSA workplace and need to file a Notice of Loss (CCC-576) within 15 days of the loss ending up being evident, except for hand-harvested crops, which need to be reported within 72 hours.

Producers with risk security through Federal Crop Insurance need to report crop damage to their crop insurance coverage representative within 72 hours of discovering damage and be sure to follow up in writing within 15 days.

“Crop insurance and other USDA threat management options are offered to help producers manage threat because we never ever understand what nature has in shop for the future,” said Jim Bellmon, Director of USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) Regional Office that covers Texas. “The Approved Insurance Providers, loss adjusters and representatives are knowledgeable and trained in managing these types of occasions.”

Conservation

FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) and Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) can help landowners and forest stewards with financial and technical help to bring back fencing, harmed farmland or forests, and eliminate particles from feed stocks, water products and feeding areas.

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is always readily available to provide technical help throughout the recovery procedure by assisting manufacturers to prepare and carry out conservation practices on farms and working forests impacted by natural catastrophes. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can assist producers plan and implement conservation practices on land affected by natural disasters.

“The Natural Resources Conservation Service can be an extremely valuable partner to assist landowners with their recovery and resiliency efforts,” said Kristy Oates, NRCS State Conservationist in Texas. “Our personnel will work individually with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop approaches that concentrate on reliable recovery of the land.”

Assistance for Communities

Additional NRCS programs consist of the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program, which helps city government sponsors with the expense of resolving watershed problems or dangers such as particles removal and streambank stabilization.

Eligible sponsors include cities, counties, towns or any federally recognized Native American tribe or tribal company. Sponsors should send an official request (by mail or e-mail) to the NRCS state conservationist for help within 60 days of the natural disaster incident or 60 days from the date when access to the sites end up being available. For additional information sponsors need to please contact their local NRCS office.

Additional USDA disaster assistance info can be found on farmers.gov, including USDA resources specifically for producers impacted by tornadoes. Those resources include the Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance reality sheet and Loan Assistance Tool. Additionally, FarmRaise partnered with FSA to release an online education center comprised of videos, tools and interactive resources, including farm loan info and LIP and ELAP choice tools. For FSA and NRCS programs, producers should call their local USDA Service Center. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, manufacturers and landowners should call their crop insurance representative.