TAYLORSVILLE – Fruit farmers in 10 Utah counties are grappling with up to a 100 percent fruit crop loss. Utah Governor Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency on May 15 to help farmers in those communities.
The Declaration of Emergency was necessary to open the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) to receive applications for the Emergency Disaster Relief Loan (ERDL) Program to Utah agricultural producers.
The loan program will remain open to accept applications related to this emergency for a period of 6 months, from now until November 15, 2026.
The declaration was spurred on by recent freezes in April that saw producers in Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Iron, Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Utah, and Weber lose up to 100 percent of fruit and other crops on some farms.
The governor’s office said the funds from ERDL are only to be used for declared disaster-related losses that are not covered by any other insurance or indemnity.
Complete eligibility requirements will be listed in the loan application.
UDAF Commissioner Kelly Pehrson said this year has already been hard on our producers, and the freeze was a devastating blow to a lot of people.
“We’ve been working with the governor to get this emergency declaration out and be able to get producers access to some of the resources that will help them get through the season,” he said. “Without programs like this, we might lose a lot of them from the ag industry, and we really don’t want that to happen.”
Funds acquired through ERDL are 7-year loans with 0% interest for the first 2 years, and 2.75% interest thereafter. The maximum loan amount from ERDL is $100,000.
Producers who wish to apply for an ERDL loan should contact their local Conservation District Resource Coordinator.
All loans must first be approved by the Conservation District. A list of Resource Coordinators can be found at https://www.uacd.org/districts-and-zones.