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Friday, 14 March 2014

How USDA Farm Loans Can Help You

By Jaclyn Hurley


People who own farms may need to take out an agricultural loan to meet their financial needs. Many kinds of farm loans are available but farmers have to know where to get them and how to apply for them. Government agencies that offer agricultural loans usually require applicants to own farms or use the funds to purchase farms. The US Department of Agriculture offers loans through its agencies such as the Farm Service Agency. The USDA is responsible for coming up with and executing federal government policies on food, forestry and agriculture.

Farmers or ranchers who want to buy new land, improve their farmland, construct farm structures, finance closing costs or promote conservation projects can benefit from USDA farm loans. Farmers are usually required to repay their farmland ownership loan within a period of less than forty years. Those who apply for a farmland operating loan are usually required to repay it within one to seven years.

Besides getting a loan from the FSA, you can get a loan guarantee through its agricultural loan program if you are not able to obtain credit elsewhere to buy, sustain or expand your farm. FSA loan officers can help you apply for a loan. You can also seek advice from business advisers when developing a business plan, which is often required when applying for funding.

Your business plan should be detailed and should show how your cash flow will look in the future. This will help your lender know the amount of money you need and how much you can be able to pay back. To create a well projected business plan, you can read through a copy of Business Plans for Agricultural Producers.

Since the situation of every farmer is different, the process you follow to apply for funding may be different from that followed by other farmers or ranchers. Before applying for a loan, you need to first determine the kind of funding you need. You may apply for more than one kind of funding if you need money for different purposes.

You can apply for a farm ownership loan when you need to buy or enlarge your farmland or pay for soil and water conservation. If you want to buy livestock or equipment or meet minor real estate repair costs, you should apply for a farm operating loan. If you have suffered losses due to a natural disaster that affected your farming operations, you can apply for an emergency loan.

The other kind of loan available is a conservation loan. It helps meet the need of farm owners who need to complete conservation practices in an approved conservation plan. After they get approved for a loan from the USDA, farmers are required to repay the principle plus a certain amount of interest. The total amount of interest to pay usually depends on the repayment period of the loan and the rate of interest charged. The interest rate can be either fixed or variable.

The US Department of Agriculture also offers microloans to veterans, disadvantaged producers and small scale farmers. The microloans program allows people to borrow amounts of up to thirty five thousand dollars. This financing option can provide people who are staring out with the financial resources they need to increase their equity. After they repay the loan, they can seek commercial credit, which can help them expand their operations further.




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