The U.S. Department of Agriculture has thrown its support behind legislation that would allow longtime borrowers to continue to have their loans guaranteed.
Without government action, as many as 4,200 borrowers that have relied on USDA guarantees of their farm operating loans for 15 years or longer would no longer qualify for the backing. The limit was instituted in 1992, but Congress has regularly waived it, most recently in the 2008 farm bill.
There are bills in the House and Senate that would continue the waiver until 2012, but both have stalled as lawmakers' attention is focused on other issues.
"With thousands of family farmers across rural America facing the tightest agricultural credit markets in 20 years, USDA loan programs can mean the difference between surviving a tough year and losing the family business," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a press release Monday. "USDA is supportive of the efforts in Congress to temporarily extend the current waiver."
