{"id":193,"date":"2013-01-17T13:06:43","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T18:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/microloans-for-small-farmers-usda.html"},"modified":"2013-01-17T13:06:43","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T18:06:43","slug":"microloans-for-small-farmers-usda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/microloans-for-small-farmers-usda.html","title":{"rendered":"Microloans for small farmers —USDA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\n<\/a>\n\nUSDA PR 0010.13<\/a>:\n<\/p>\n

\n

\nUSDA Finalizes New Microloan Program\n<\/h3>\n

\nMicroloans up to $35,000 aim to assist small farmers, veterans, and\ndisadvantaged producers\n<\/p>\n

\nWASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2013 \u2014 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack\ntoday announced a new microloan program from the U.S. Department of\nAgriculture (USDA) designed to help small and family operations,\nbeginning and socially disadvantaged farmers secure loans under\n$35,000. The new microloan program is aimed at bolstering the\nprogress of producers through their start-up years by providing\nneeded resources and helping to increase equity so that farmers may\neventually graduate to commercial credit and expand their\noperations. The microloan program will also provide a less\nburdensome, more simplified application process in comparison to\ntraditional farm loans.\n<\/p>\n

\n\n<\/a>\n\u201cI have met several small and beginning farmers, returning\nveterans and disadvantaged producers interested in careers in\nfarming who too often must rely on credit cards or personal loans\nwith high interest rates to finance their start-up\noperations,\u201d said Vilsack.\u201cBy further expanding access\nto credit to those just starting to put down roots in farming, USDA\ncontinues to help grow a new generation of farmers, while ensuring\nthe strength of an American agriculture sector that drives our\neconomy, creates jobs, and provides the most secure and affordable\nfood supply in the world.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nThe new microloans, said Vilsack, represent how USDA continues to\nmake year-over-year gains in expanding credit opportunities for\nminority, socially-disadvantaged and young and beginning farmers and\nranchers across the United States. The final rule establishing the\nmicroloan program will be published in the Jan. 17 issue of the\nFederal Register.\n<\/p>\n

\nAdministered through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) Operating Loan\nProgram,\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\nthe new microloan program offers credit options and\nsolutions to a variety of producers. FSA has a long history of\nproviding agricultural credit to the nation’s farmers and ranchers\nthrough its Operating Loan Program. In assessing its programs, FSA\nevaluated the needs of smaller farm operations and any unintended\nbarriers to obtaining financing. For beginning farmers and ranchers,\nfor instance, the new microloan program offers a simplified loan\napplication process. In addition, for those who want to grow niche\ncrops to sell directly to ethnic markets and farmers markets, the\nmicroloan program offers a path to obtain financing. For past FSA\nRural Youth Loan recipients, the microloan program provides a bridge\nto successfully transition to larger-scale operations.\n

\nSince 2009,\n\nUSDA has made a record amount of farm loans<\/a>\nthrough FSA\u2014more than 128,000 loans totaling nearly $18 billion. USDA\nhas increased the number of loans to beginning farmers and ranchers\nfrom 11,000 loans in 2008 to 15,000 loans in 2011. More than 40\npercent of USDA’s farm loans now go to beginning farmers. In\naddition, USDA has increased its lending to socially-disadvantaged\nproducers by nearly 50 percent since 2008.\n<\/p>\n

\nProducers can apply for a maximum of $35,000 to pay for initial\nstart-up expenses such as hoop houses to extend the growing season,\nessential tools, irrigation, delivery vehicles, and annual expenses\nsuch as seed, fertilizer, utilities, land rents, marketing, and\ndistribution expenses. As their financing needs increase, applicants\ncan apply for an operating loan up to the maximum amount of $300,000\nor obtain financing from a commercial lender under FSA’s Guaranteed\nLoan Program.\n<\/p>\n

\nUSDA farm loans can be used to purchase land, livestock, equipment,\nfeed, seed, and supplies, or be to construct buildings or make farm\nimprovements. Small farmers often rely on credit cards or personal\nloans, which carry high interest rates and have less flexible\npayment schedules, to finance their operations. Expanding access to\ncredit, USDA’s microloan will provide a simple and flexible loan\nprocess for small operations.\n<\/p>\n

\nProducers interested in applying for a microloan may contact their\nlocal\n\nFarm Service Agency<\/a> office.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Obama Administration, with Agriculture Secretary Vilsack’s\nleadership, has worked tirelessly to strengthen rural America,\nmaintain a strong farm safety net, and create opportunities for\nAmerica’s farmers and ranchers. U.S. agriculture is currently\nexperiencing one of its most productive periods in American history\nthanks to the productivity, resiliency, and resourcefulness of our\nproducers.\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n\nLowndes County FSA office:<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n
\nLOWNDES COUNTY FARM SERVICE AGENCY\n
\n2108 E HILL AVE\n
\nVALDOSTA, GA 31601-0600\n
\n(229) 242-0575\n
\n(229) 244-5702 Fax\n
\n
\nMailing Address:\n
\n2108 EAST HILL AVE\n
\nVALDOSTA, GA 31601-0600\n<\/td>\n		\nTerrie P. Wolford\n
\nCounty Executive Director\n
\n(229) 242-0575\n
\n(229) 244-5702 fax\n
\nTerrie.Wolford@ga.usda.gov\n
\n
\nJUDY F KIGHT\n
\nFarm Loan Manager\n
\n(912) 384-4811 x 115\n
\nJudy.Kight@ga.usda.gov\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n-jsq\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USDA PR 0010.13: USDA Finalizes New Microloan Program Microloans up to $35,000 aim to assist small farmers, veterans, and disadvantaged producers WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2013 \u2014 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a new microloan program from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) designed to help small and family operations, beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[202,14,570],"tags":[8750,887,8704,886,884,8701,8702,12,7,888,8783,411,6,885],"class_list":["post-193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","category-economy","category-military","tag-agriculture","tag-disadvantaged-producers","tag-economy","tag-farmers","tag-fsa","tag-georgia","tag-lake","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-microloans","tag-military","tag-usda","tag-valdosta","tag-veterans"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-37","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}