Government-backed loans designed to support the businesses of future leaders in the agricultural economy
* 10-20% down payment and collateral is generally required for USDA-guaranteed financing.
Farmers and agricultural business owners form the backbone of the American economy. From feeding the world with their crops to conducting research in the fisheries sector, agricultural business owners deserve access to the funding they need to continue their essential work.
We partner with multiple government lending programs, including the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Fisheries Finance Program (FFP), and Farm Storage Facility Loans (FSFL), to bring loans to farmers and fishery owners who cannot obtain financing from commercial lenders. We streamline the application and lending processes and answer your questions along the way.
There are four types of government-backed agricultural loans to support farmers, ranchers, and fishery owners in their efforts to purchase real estate, machinery, equipment, and more. These loans typically offer lower down payments, easier qualifying criteria, longer repayment terms, and attractive interest rates.
FSA loans offer farm operating loans to promote, build, and sustain farms with the goal of cultivating a thriving agricultural economy in the US.
To qualify, farmers must meet the following requirements:
Must be family farmers, citizens, non-citizen nationals, or legal resident aliens of the United States or US territories.
Can demonstrate one year of sufficient farm managerial experience.
Have a credit history.
Show legal ability to sustain loan obligations.
Unable to obtain credit elsewhere at reasonable rates and terms to meet actual needs.
Serve as the tenant-operator or owner-operator of a family farm after loan closing.
The FFP offers direct government loans to help fishery owners and those in the fishing industry to finance the cost of construction of fishing vessels, fisheries facilities, aqua cultural facilities, and individual fishing quotas in the Northwest Halibut/Sablefish and Alaskan Crab Fisheries.
Qualifying for an FFP loan requires the following:
Demonstrate your status as an aquaculture operator or fisherman and US citizenship.
Have good credit and earnings record, net worth, and liquidity behind the project you are funding.
Fully secure your project with your assets, including personal guarantees.
Have at least a three-year history of owning or operating the fisheries project that is the subject of your proposed application, or a three-year history owning or operating a comparable project.
FSA FO loans assist new farmers with purchasing land and facilities to enlarge their operations, pay for closing costs, and fund water and soil conservation efforts.
To qualify, farmers must meet the following requirements:
Must be family farmers, citizens, non-citizen nationals, or legal resident aliens of the United States or US territories.
Can demonstrate one year of sufficient farm managerial experience.
Have a credit history
Show legal ability to sustain loan obligations.
Unable to obtain credit elsewhere at reasonable rates and terms to meet actual needs
Serve as the tenant-operator or owner-operator of a family farm after loan closing
FSFLs encourage farmers to construct on-farm storage and handling facilities for eligible commodities, including corn, grain sorghum, oats, wheat, barley, rice, soybeans, peanuts, minor oilseeds, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas, hay, renewable biomass and cold storage facilities for fruits and vegetables.
To meet loan qualifications, borrowers should be able to demonstrate the following:
Be a landowner, landlord, leaseholder, tenant, or sharecropper with a satisfactory credit rating.
Have the ability to repay the debt for the facility loan.
Have a storage need based on the three-year-average acreage and share of production, deducting any current storage available.
Provide proof of multi-peril crop insurance from the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation(FCIC) or a private company for the life of the loan
Provide proof of all peril insurance flood insurance with CCC as a loss payee, and
Maintain compliance with US Department of Agriculture (USDA) provisions for highly erodible land and wet lands.
Demonstrate compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, and
Be compliant with any applicable local zoning, land use, and building codes.
