Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program

The Agriculture and Aquaculture Producers Natural Disaster Recovery Loan Program has been established within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) to make low-interest or interest-free loans to agricultural and aquaculture producers who have experienced damage from a declared natural disaster. 

Loans may be used to: 

• Restore, repair or replace essential physical property, including fences, equipment, greenhouses and other buildings, or

• Remove vegetative debris from the property. Any structure or building constructed using loan proceeds must comply with storm-hardening standards as defined in Section 604.50(2), Florida Statutes (F.S.). 

• Applicants must own a bona fide farm operation on land classified as agricultural pursuant to Section 193.461, F.S., or lease sovereign submerged land pursuant to Section 597.010, F.S.

• The farm or aquaculture facility must be located in a qualifying county.

  • The qualifying counties for Hurricane Debby are: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton and Washington.

  • The qualifying counties for Hurricane Helene are: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton and Washington.

• Applicants must have experienced damage or destruction due to a qualifying disaster.

• If an applicant is not the owner of the property, please have the property owner complete the Authorized Representative Form [  83.6 kB ] before applying for a loan.

• Loan funds may only be used to restore, repair or replace essential physical property or remove vegetative debris from essential physical property. 

• You must be at least 18 years old.

• Applicants must not have accepted financial assistance from another state or federal disaster relief program, which would render an approved applicant ineligible for other financial assistance.

• You must complete all sections and upload all required documents for your application to be considered complete and proceed to the review and loan decision process.

• Applicants must understand that any changes that would alter an applicant’s answers or affect an applicant’s eligibility to participate in the program must be reported to FDACS immediately.

**Note: ** As outlined in Florida Statute, an applicant may not receive more than one loan per application period, more than two loans within a 12-month period, based on the date of their first loan application, or more than five loans in any three-year period. For instance, if an applicant was approved for their first loan in January, and their second loan in July of the same year, they will be ineligible to be approved for an additional loan until January of the following year.

Apply here