
USDA Offering Farm Loans To Beginning, Underserved Farmers
The USDA is reminding producers across the Northwest that FSA offers farm ownership and farm operating loans to underserved applicants as well as beginning farmers and ranchers. Lisa Ruff with USDA’s office in Yakima said farming and ranching is a capital-intensive business and FSA is committed to helping producers start and maintain their ag operations. She noted that FSA often acts as a down payment for participation lending with a bank.
“So, if a bank is willing to make the loan but they need 30% down, somebody might be able to come to FSA and get a loan for that part because we will take a second lean position, and we can loan up to 100% of the appraised market value," she said. "And our interest rates are typically a little bit lower than the banks rates because we are meant to be a temporary lending source to get people situated in the farming or recover from a disaster.”
From there, Ruff noted FSA graduates that lender out to commercial credit when they're able. So, what do applicants need to provide to secure a loan? Ruff said FSA has what she described as a basic application form that will look at any lending history the lender might have or lending history the farm may have.
“We do need to plan put together to show that the loan can be repaid. And basic financial information, such as a balance sheet, monthly cash flow, purchase and sale. We do not have a way to offer a pre-approval. We are looking at the eligibility of the producers as well as the property, so we have to have a signed purchase and sale agreement if they want to buy a farm.”
Click Here for more information on FSA’s farm loan programs.
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