Applications for Emergency (EM) loans based on damages and losses caused by a severe ice storm that occurred Dec.15-16, 2005, are being accepted at the Spartanburg/ Union/Cherokee Farm Service Agency (FSA) office, state executive director Ken Rentiers, said.

Several counties in South Carolina were named by President Bush as eligible for loans to cover losses resulting from this South Carolina disaster declaration. Spartanburg, Union and Cherokee counties are named in this disaster declaration.

As a general rule, a farmer must have suffered at least a 30 percent loss of normal production in a single enterprise, be able to repay the loan and any other loans, be unable to obtain credit elsewhere and have adequate security, Rentiers said.

The expiration date for filing applications under this emergency designation is Sept. 20, 2006, but farmers should apply as soon as possible. The Spartanburg/ Union/Cherokee FSA office is located at 105 Corporate Drive, Suite G, Spartanburg S.C. 29303.