Rutherford Weekly

Page 8 - Rutherford Weekly 828-248-1408 www.rutherfordweekly.com Thursday, August 13-August 19, 2020 The hospice you choose makes a difference. Choose the one with • local staff • hospice and palliative care trained staff • admissions 24 hours a day every day • same day admissions • hospice inpatient unit • palliative care in all settings • grief counseling for any adult in three locations • Kids Path™ • Kids Path™ Day Camp GIVE US A CALL TODAY! YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID! (828) 245-0095 NC (800) 218-CARE (2273) To assist Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL) borrowers experiencing fi nancial hardship from the pandemic and other challenges in production agriculture, USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) is offering a one-time annual installment payment deferral option. No fees or prepayment penalties apply for borrowers who choose this FSFL loan fl exibility option. "Farmers are facing challenging times because of the pandemic, and FSA is constantly looking for ways to offer fl exibilities to our customers to help alleviate fi nancial stressors," said FSA Administrator Richard Fordyce. "This storage facility loan servicing option affords eligible borrowers more time to make a payment and may stop loan acceleration, foreclosure or liquidation." Eligible borrowers can request a one-time only annual installment payment deferral for loans having terms of three, fi ve, seven or ten years. The installment deferral option is not available for 12-year term loans. The FSFL installment payments will remain the same, except for the last year. The original loan interest rate and annual payment due date will remain the same. However, because the installment payment deferral is a one-year loan term extension, the fi nal payment will be higher due to additional accrued interest. Borrowers interested in exercising the one-time annual installment deferral option should contact FSA to make the request and to obtain, complete and sign required forms. FSFLs provide low-interest fi nancing for producers to store, handle and transport eligible commodities. In addition to offering fl exibilities for FSFLs, FSA has also made other fl exibilities to help producers impacted by the pandemic, including relaxing the loan- making process for farm operating and ownership loans and implementing the Disaster Set-Aside provision that enables an upcoming installment on a direct loan to be set aside for the year. More information on these fl exibilities can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus. All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including some that are open to visitors to conduct business in person by appointment only. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with the FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. Service Centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel, and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors may also be required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. Our program delivery staff will be in the offi ce, and they will be working with our producers in offi ce, by phone and using online tools. More information can be found at farmers.gov/ coronavirus. For more information, contact your local USDA Service Center. To locate your local FSA offi ce, visit farmers.gov/service-center- locator. USDA Offers Annual Installment Deferral Option for Farm Storage Facility Loan Borrowers Article Provided By: Janice Nicholson Agricultural producers in North Carolina can now apply for USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) through an online portal, expanding the options available to producers to apply for this program, which helps offset price declines and additional marketing costs because of the coronavirus pandemic. USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) is also leveraging commercial document storage and e-signature solutions to enable producers to work with local Service Center staff to complete their applications from home. FSA is accepting applications now through August 28, 2020. "CFAP provides timely fi nancial support to eligible agricultural producers impacted by COVID-19," said Eddie Woodhouse, State Executive Director for FSA in North Carolina. "I encourage North Carolina farmers to apply immediately through one of the simple processes outlined on farmers.gov." Producers can access the new CFAP Application Portal at farmers.gov/cfap, which outlines all options for signing and submitting CFAP applications to meet the business needs of individual producers. Producers can also fi nd an application generator and payment calculator to help identify sales and inventory records needed to apply and calculate potential payments. Through the portal, producers with secure USDA login credentials—known as eAuthentication—can certify eligible commodities online, digitally sign applications and submit directly to the local USDA Service Center. Producers who do not have an eAuthentication account can learn more and begin the enrollment process at farmers.gov/sign-in. Currently, the digital application is only available to sole proprietors or single-member business entities. USDA Service Centers can also work with producers to complete and securely transmit digitally signed applications through two commercially available tools: Box and OneSpan. Producers who are interested in digitally signing their applications should notify their RUTHERFORD County USDA Service Center when calling to discuss the CFAP application process. You can learn more about these solutions at farmers. gov/mydocs. Producers in search of one-on-one support with the CFAP application process can call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to offer assistance. This is a good fi rst step before a producer engages the team at the FSA county offi ce at their local USDA Service Center. Visit farmers.gov/cfap for access to recordings of national FSA webinars for specialty crop producers, non-specialty crop producers, dairy producers and livestock producers. Webinars also cover FSA programs with producer fl exibilities during COVID-19 and a review of targeted funding for beginning and other underserved farmers and ranchers in other programs. To fi nd the latest information on CFAP, visit farmers.gov/ cfap or call 877-508-8364. All USDA Service Centers are open for business, including some that are open to visitors to conduct business in person by appointment only. All Service Center visitors wishing to conduct business with FSA, Natural Resources Conservation Service or any other Service Center agency should call ahead and schedule an appointment. Service Centers that are open for appointments will pre-screen visitors based on health concerns or recent travel and visitors must adhere to social distancing guidelines. Visitors may also be required to wear a face covering during their appointment. Field work will continue with appropriate social distancing. Our program delivery staff will be in the offi ce, and they will be working with our producers in offi ce, by phone and using online tools. More information can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus. Rutherford County Farmers Can Now Apply Online for Financial Assistance through USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Article Provided By: Janice Nicholson WE OUR READERS NORRIS MERCHANDISE 2011 S. Lafayette St. (Hwy. 18 S) Shelby, NC • 704-482-8464 www.norrismerchandise.com Hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 5:30pm • Sat 8am - 3pm ©CommunityFirstMedia GEt READy FOR HUNTINg SEASON! ALL THE BEST BOWS AND CROSSBOWS IN STOCK AND READY TO GO! Lucky Buck Lucky Buck Mineral Now in Stock! Mineral Now in Stock! Certifi ed Social Distancing 4S Draw MINERALS and Food Plot Mix (Foot Plot recommended to be planted fi rst week of Sept.)

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