Farmers have received $800 million
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is providing farmers with loan relief assistance for producers facing financial challenges.
American farmers have received $800 million in loan relief from the USDA, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on Oct. 18.
More than 13,000 farmers have already received support. And 23,000 more borrowers could share another $500 million.
This loan relief helps ensure farmers can keep farming, Vilsack said.
“The star of the show here is the farmer,” Vilsack told reporters. “The person that really matters is the farmer, and keeping that farmer, him or her, on the land so that he or she can take care of their family and their community.”
The funding came from Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allocates $3.1 billion for farm borrowers.
The $800 million in received support represents about 25 percent of the total amount in the IRA.
Multiple ag organizations applauded the loan relief.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, for example, said the funding “is a critical step to stabilize farms and farm families at particular financial risk, including small and medium scale and diversified farmers, especially those historically underserved by the USDA.”
The Native American Agriculture Fund also welcomed the loan relief announcement.
Without this support, the U.S. would’ve lost family farms, said Toni Stanger-McLaughlin, CEO of the Native American Agriculture Fund.
“Without this assistance, many borrowers could have faced accelerated loans resulting in foreclosure,” she said in a statement.