Moore County farmers who sustained physical and production losses because of drought and severe heat conditions this year can now apply for emergency loans through the Farm Services Agency.

The deadline to file an application is July 1, 2009, according to Bill Rhodes, farm loan manager. The Moore-Montgomery FSA office is in the Moore County Agricultural Center on Pinehurst Avenue in Carthage.

Moore County is not among the 59 primary North Carolina counties covered by the natural disaster proclamation issued by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer on Oct. 31, but it is one of the 37 counties included because it is contiguous to primary counties.

Office hours for the Moore-Montgomery FSA office are 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Rhodes advises farmers who have suffered production or physical loss because of drought and heat conditions earlier this year to visit his office for additional information.