farm loans
‘Ignore the subsidy lobby,’ says EWG in review of farm economy
"There's a lot of doom and gloom in the air about the state of the farm economy," says a report by the Environmental Working Group, and much of it is a campaign for larger crop subsidies. "The farm subsidy lobby has been working overtime to sue what it calls a 'farm crisis' to deflect well-deserved criticism of the fatally flawed federal subsidy program that they're desperate to protect."
Farm loan volume near record highs due to ‘suppressed’ income
"Persistently weak profit margins in the farm sector continued to intensify the challenge of maintaining adequate cash flow" in the first three months of this year, says the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank.
Cotton growers can use certificates to boost USDA payments
As directed by Congress, USDA is giving cotton growers the chance to use so-called commodity certificates to retire crop support loans, a step estimated to funnel an additional $40 million to farmers facing the lowest market prices since 2009.
High demand by farmers for short-term operating loans
With farm income down in 2015, persistently high need by farmers and ranchers for short-term loans "amplified concerns about farm sector liquidity moving into 2016, especially if farmers' profit margins remain low," said the Ag Finance Databook published by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. The book, produced quarterly and looking at agriculture nationwide, said, "Loans used to finance current operating expenses remained at record levels, while most other types of non-real estate loans declined slightly."
In downward cycle, Ag’s impact felt on Main Street
Main Street businesses in the Plains are feeling the pinch of lower commodity prices while producers throughout the Farm Belt are watching their pennies, said quarterly reports from three regional Federal Reserve banks.
Larger loans for smaller-scale farmers
New rules for "micro loans" to small and beginning farmers will take effect on Nov 7, said the Agriculture Department in carrying out a provision of the 2014 farm law.
Farmer borrowing up sharply as crop prices fall
Commercial banks across the country reported a dramatic increase in volume this year for short-term agricultural production loans, says the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank in its quarterly Agricultural Finance Databook.
Surge in million-dollar operating loans to farmers
Ag bankers reported more than 40 percent growth in the volume of new operating loans during the summer compared to the third quarter of 2023, said the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. "For the first time in at least two decades, the volume of loans larger than $1 million eclipsed the volume of loans smaller than $1 million," said the regional Fed, based on a survey of banks across the nation.