There’s more help for farmers in Farm Service Agency Loan Programs who have become financially distressed. The FSA will begin providing additional, automatic financial assistance for qualifying guaranteed Farm Loan Programs (FLP) borrowers who are facing financial risk. It is part of the $3.1 billion to help certain distressed farm loan borrowers that was provided through the Inflation Reduction Act.
“Borrowers who did not receive any automatic payment because they were not yet 60 days delinquent as of September 30, 2022, as well as guaranteed borrowers that became delinquent between September 30 and October 18, 2020, the producers that had a loan restructure between March 1, 2020 and August 11, 2023 are eligible for some of this assistance as well,” explained Farm Service Agency Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Payments on deferred guaranteed loan amounts are limited to up to $100,000 and the payment will be the lesser of the most recent deferral or extension amount or the amount required to pay the account in full.”
The new assistance is only available for FLP guaranteed loan borrowers who did not or will not receive an initial payment on the same FLP guaranteed loan under Inflation Reduction Act assistance announced in October 2022.
Distressed guaranteed borrowers who qualify for the assistance will receive a United States Department of the Treasury check that is jointly payable to them and the lender. They will also receive a letter from FSA informing them of the assistance they will receive as well as instructions to make an appointment with their lender to process the payment and apply it to their qualifying guaranteed loan accounts.
FSA is still accepting and reviewing individual distressed borrower assistance requests from borrowers who missed a recent installment or are unable to make their next scheduled installment on a qualifying direct FLP loan.
You can find more information on the USDA FSA website.
