Thank you for visiting our web site. We hope that you will find it informative and helpful. Please check back periodically for upcoming TMBC events as well as program information and reminders.
The Texas/Mexico Border Coalition is a Community-based Organization. The purpose of the Coalition is to establish and maintain the health, social, environmental, and economic integrity and survival of small, rural communities along the Texas-Mexico border.
|
QUICK GLANCE see Upcoming Events for more details.
TITLE: Duval County Workshop
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 2013 at 6PM
DATE: Benavides Civic Center 131 W Main St, Benavides, Texas
CONTACT INFO: RSVP for the event and free dinner at 361-701-3232.
TITLE: 2013 South Texas Ag Producer & Landowner Workshop
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 6PM
PLACE: Palo Alto College - San Antonio, Pedernales Hall, Room 109 (corner of Frescos & Presidio)
CONTACT INFO: Contact 361-701-3232
TITLE: Small Acreage Land Management Workshop in Falfurrias, Texas
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 6PM
CONTACT INFO: RSVP for the event and free dinner at 361-325-5000.
|
Emergency loans available for drought-stricken farmers
Information for South Texas farmers.
|
Microloans up to $35,000 aim to assist small farmers, veterans, and disadvantages producers
WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2013 — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a new microloan program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designed to help small and family operations, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers secure loans under $35,000. The new microloan program is aimed at bolstering the progress of producers through their start-up years by providing needed resources and helping to increase equity so that farmers may eventually graduate to commercial credit and expand their operations. The microloan program will also provide a less burdensome, more simplified application process in comparison to traditional farm loans.
“I have met several small and beginning farmers, returning veterans and disadvantaged producers interested in careers in farming who too often must rely on credit cards or personal loans with high interest rates to finance their start-up operations,” said Vilsack. “By further expanding access to credit to those just starting to put down roots in farming, USDA continues to help grow a new generation of farmers, while ensuring the strength of an American agriculture sector that drives our economy, creates jobs, and provides the most secure and affordable food supply in the world.”
The new microloans, said Vilsack, represent how USDA continues to make year-over-year gains in expanding credit opportunities for minority, socially-disadvantaged and young and beginning farmers and ranchers across the United States. The final rule establishing the microloan program will be published in the Jan. 17 issue of the Federal Register.
|
Applications for Conservation Financial Assistance Due by Feb. 15
Applications for funding opportunities with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) are currently being accepted at all NRCS offices across Texas. EQIP offers technical and financial help to install or implement structural, vegetative, and management practices that can benefit the soil, water, air, plants, livestock, and wildlife. Each county in the state is funded yearly to assist producers financially with these land management practices.
EQIP is a voluntary, continuous sign-up program that allows landowners or operators to apply for financial and technical assistance for the application of specific conservation practices; but the deadline for the first 2013 funding is February 15, 2013. Contracts are offered periodically depending on budgetary allocations. Applications made after the deadline will be considered in the next funding cycle. Higher priority will be given to those applications that address national, state and local priorities and provide higher cost efficiency.
For more information, including eligibility requirements, call the USDA Service Center office serving the county where your land is located. Service center locations and program information can be found on the Texas NRCS Web site at www.tx.nrcs.usda.gov
|
|