Farm Services & Equine Operations Loan Eligibility

Equine Operations Loan Eligibility

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Bruce Nelson recently announced that equine operations that breed, raise and sell certain types of horses are now eligible for loan assistance under FSA’s emergency loan program.

Emergency loan funds may be used to:

  • Restore or replace essential property
  • Pay all or part of production costs associated with the disaster year (the calendar year in which the disaster occurred)
  • Pay essential family living expenses
  • Reorganize the farming operation
  • Refinance certain debts

Emergency loans can be made to farmers and ranchers who own and operate lands in a county or contiguous county to a county declared by the President or designated by the Secretary of Agriculture as a disaster area. Producers can borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses up to a maximum of $500,000. Terms of the loans include an interest rate of 3.75 percent and repayment over a period of one to 40 years depending on the nature of the loss and the collateral available to secure the loan.


U.S. agriculture is currently experiencing one of its most productive periods in American history thanks to the productivity, resiliency, and resourcefulness of our producers. A strong farm safety net is important to sustain the success of American agriculture. For example, USDA’s crop insurance program insures 264 million acres, 1.14 million policies, and $110 billion worth of liability on about 500,000 farms. And in response to tighter financial markets, USDA has expanded the availability of farm credit, helping struggling farmers refinance loans. In the past 3 years, USDA provided 103,000 loans to family farmers totaling $14.6 billion. Over 50 percent of the loans went to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.


For additional information on FSA’s emergency loan program, click here.

 

Farms Services

The Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency was created in 1994 in order to help stabilize farm income, help farmers conserve land and water resources, provide credit to new or disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and help farm operations recover from the effects of disaster.  FSA incorporated programs from several agencies, including the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, and the Farmers Home Administration. Though its name has changed over the years, the Agency's relationship with farmers goes back to the 1930s.

Congress set up FSA to be a unique system under which Federal farm programs are administered locally. Farmers who are eligible to participate in these programs elect a three- to five-person county committee, which reviews county office operations and makes decisions on how to apply the programs. This grassroots approach gives farmers a much-needed say in how Federal actions affect their communities and their individual operations.

For more information:

Farm Services Agency Website