Farm Credit Beginning Farmer Loans up 12 Percent

Randall Weiseman Alabama, Cattle, Citrus, Field Crops, Florida, General, Georgia, Livestock, Specialty Crops

farm-credit-administrationFarm Credit made nearly 80,000 new loans to beginning farmers and ranchers last year totaling nearly $13 billion.

The Farm Credit Administration says the number of loans made to beginning producers increased by 12.2 percent, 5,000 loans more than 2014. Loans to beginning farmers accounted for 22 percent of all loans made by Farm Credit.

Officials say last year the average size Farm Credit loan to a beginning farmer or rancher was up slightly from 2014 to almost $160,000. Meanwhile, over the past ten years, new loans made by Farm Credit to beginning farmers increased by more than 45 percent.

Each year, Farm Credit lenders specifically report their loan activities in support of beginning farmers and those results are reviewed by the Farm Credit Administration, the federal regulator that oversees Farm Credit activity, and reports the activity to Congress.