Farmers in 21 Louisiana Parishes May Qualify for Hurricane Laura Aid

Farmers in 21 north and central Louisiana parishes may qualify for low-interest loans to cover losses from Hurricane Laura in August.

These are parishes which did not already qualify under President Donald Trump’s disaster declaration in August.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has named Caldwell, Natchitoches, Ouachita and Red River as primary disaster areas, Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain said Wednesday in a news release.

He said the 17 parishes adjacent to any of those four are considered contiguous disaster areas. Those are Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Catahoula, DeSoto, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Morehouse, Rapides, Richland, Sabine, Union, Vernon, and Winn.

The storm did more than $1.6 billion in damage to Louisiana’s agriculture and forestry, according to the LSU AgCenter.

Farmers and ranchers who can prove losses from the storm’s high winds may get low-interest Farm Service Agency loans to cover some of those losses.

Farmers in eligible areas have eight months to apply for the loans and can get more information form their local FSA office.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Louisiana Agribusiness Hurricane