Agricultural loan application tool
Tim Hammerich
Journalist
This is Tim Hammerich from the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future report.
To make it easier for farmers to navigate USDA loan programs, the Farm Service Agency is rolling out a new loan assistance tool. Administrator Zach Ducheneaux says the tool will make it much easier to understand programs and eligibility.
Ducheneaux… “We have a fairly complicated application process, and it’s difficult for producers to understand from the outset what the eligibility requirements are, why we might lend money and where they fit into the range of services we currently offer. The Lending Aid Tool is really our effort to start reimagining how we’re going to do agricultural lending in the future. Using the loan assistance tool, a producer can go to the website, click on it and really better understand what their eligibility looks like, what programs we have to offer under our agricultural loan programs and how it can help them in their business.”
Ducheneaux says the agency is aware of the need to better serve producers.
Ducheneaux… “Opportunities to start farming are often very limited in time. You may never have the opportunity to buy the land next to you again. And if the tool you need is what the FSA has to offer, and it takes us six months to get a claim through, that’s just not acceptable. So we need to be able to act faster to help growers take advantage of opportunities when they arise. »
The tool is also designed to address the high number of incomplete or withdrawn applications, particularly among underserved populations.
