The state Board of Agriculture has approved emergency agricultural loans for local farmers and ranchers who are suffering from wind and fire damage.

The agriculture board on Tuesday approved the program to assist producers on Maui and Hawaii island, where windy and dry conditions led to large fires, including the one that devastated Lahaina.

The loans will be up to $350,000 and will have an interest rate of 3%. The board also chose to waive requirements for credit denials and residency requirements. Collateral requirements can be modified or waived on a case-by-case basis.

Terms of the loans also will be determined for individual cases, although consideration will be based on the historical farm performance and projected cash flow.

There is $5 million set aside for emergency loan programs in the loan division for affected farmers.

The board’s approval of the loan program is a precautionary measure, as the fires over the past several weeks have not yet resulted in costly repairs.

“We haven’t had any actual requests of damage. Some of the farmers we talked to said they were OK, that they didn’t experience much damage,” Dean Matsukawa, acting administrator of the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Loan Division, said during the board meeting.

He did note that there was some reported wind damage in Kula to persimmon farms and others, so there could be some requests incoming.

That’s not to say there has been no impact to farmers and ranchers.

Board member Vincent Mina, who represents Maui County and operates a family farm in Wailuku, said the drop in tourism since the Aug. 8 fire in Lahaina has affected business.

“Personally, our business has dropped by half because of all the hotels being affected and all the tourists not coming in,” Mina said.

Board member James Gomes said he has heard of ranchers on Maui that have lost livestock, fencing and water lines from the recent wind and fire.

The board unanimously approved the emergency loan program.

The agricultural board unanimously approved the emergency loan program. Emergency loan applications can be submitted until Feb. 29 of next year.

For agribusinesses needing loans of $50,000 or less, micro-loans with less paperwork and quicker processing are also available. The DOA’s Agricultural Loan Division can be reached at 808-973-9458 or via email at hdoa.agloan@hawaii.gov.