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omb -- USDA Offers New Loans for Portable Farm Storage and Handling Equipment

Posted: 29 Apr 2016 09:58:53
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide a new
financing option to help farmers purchase portable storage and
handling equipment.  

Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Val Dolcini and
Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Administrator Elanor Starmer
announced changes to the Farm Storage Facility Loan (FSFL)
program today during a local and regional food roundtable in
Columbus, Ohio. The loans, which now include a smaller microloan
option with lower down payments, are designed to help producers,
including new, small and mid-sized producers, grow their
businesses and markets.

“As more communities reconnect with agriculture, consumer demand
is increasing for food produced locally or regionally,” said
Dolcini. “Portable handling and storage equipment is vital to
helping farmers get their products to market more quickly and
better maintain product quality, bringing them greater returns.
That’s why we’ve added this type of equipment as a new category
for our Farm Storage Facility Loan program.”

The program also offers a new “microloan” option, which allows
applicants seeking less than $50,000 to qualify for a reduced
down payment of five percent and no requirement to provide three
years of production history. Farms and ranches of all sizes are
eligible. The microloan option is expected to be of particular
benefit to smaller farms and ranches, and specialty crop
producers who may not have access to commercial storage or
on-farm storage after harvest. These producers can invest in
equipment like conveyers, scales or refrigeration units and
trucks that can store commodities before delivering them to
markets. Producers do not need to demonstrate the lack of
commercial credit availability to apply.

“Growing high-value crops for local and regional markets is a
common entry point for new farmers,” said Starmer. “Since they
often rent land and have to transport perishable commodities, a
loan that can cover mobile coolers or even refrigerated trucks
fills an important gap. These producers in turn supply the
growing number of food hubs, farmers markets or stores and
restaurants interested in sourcing local food.”

Earlier this year, FSA significantly expanded the list of
commodities eligible for Farm Storage Facility Loan. Eligible
commodities now include aquaculture; floriculture; fruits
(including nuts) and vegetables; corn, grain sorghum, rice,
oilseeds, oats, wheat, triticale, spelt, buckwheat, lentils,
chickpeas, dry peas sugar, peanuts, barley, rye, hay, honey,
hops, maple sap, unprocessed meat and poultry, eggs, milk,
cheese, butter, yogurt and renewable biomass. FSFL microloans can
also be used to finance wash and pack equipment used
post-harvest, before a commodity is placed in cold storage.

AMS helps thousands of agricultural food producers and businesses
enhance their marketing efforts through a combination of
research, technical services and grants. The agency works to
improve marketing opportunities for U.S. growers and producers,
including those involved in specialty crop production and in the
local and regional food systems. Visit http://www.ams.usda.gov/
to learn more about AMS services.

Today’s announcement will further advance the efforts of USDA’s
Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, which coordinates
the Department's work to develop local and regional food systems.
USDA is committed to helping farmers, ranchers, and businesses
access the growing market for local and regional foods, which was
valued at $12 billion in 2014 according to industry estimates.
Under this Administration, USDA has invested more than $1 billion
in more than 40,000 local and regional food businesses and
infrastructure projects. More information on how USDA investments
are connecting producers with consumers and expanding rural
economic opportunities is available in Chapter IV of USDA Results
on Medium:
https://medium.com/usda-results/new-markets-new-opportunities-strengthening-local-food-systems-and-organic-agriculture-17b529c5ea90#.iljmn39le


To learn more about Farm Storage Facility Loans, visit
www.fsa.usda.gov/pricesupport or contact a local FSA county
office. To find your local FSA county office, visit
http://offices.usda.gov/


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