USDA Provides Payments of nearly $800 Million in Assistance to Help Keep Farmers Farming - USDA.gov

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2022 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) contiguous announced that distressed borrowers with qualifying USDA workplace loans person already received astir $800 cardinal successful assistance, arsenic portion of the $3.1 cardinal successful assistance for distressed workplace indebtedness borrowers provided done Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA directed USDA to expedite assistance to distressed borrowers of nonstop oregon guaranteed loans administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) whose operations look fiscal risk.

Today’s announcement kicks disconnected a process to supply assistance to distressed workplace indebtedness borrowers utilizing respective complementary approaches, with the extremity of keeping them farming, removing obstacles that presently forestall galore of these borrowers from returning to farming, and improving the mode that USDA approaches borrowing and servicing. Through this assistance, USDA is focused connected generating semipermanent stableness and occurrence for distressed borrowers.

“Through nary responsibility of their own, our nation’s farmers and ranchers person faced incredibly pugnacious circumstances implicit the past fewer years,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The backing included successful today’s announcement helps support our farmers farming and provides a caller commencement for producers successful challenging positions.”

Work has already started to bring immoderate alleviation to distressed farmers. As of today, implicit 13,000 borrowers person already benefited from the resources provided nether the Inflation Reduction Act arsenic follows:

• Approximately 11,000 delinquent nonstop and guaranteed borrowers had their accounts brought current. USDA besides paid the adjacent scheduled yearly installment for these nonstop indebtedness borrowers giving them bid of caput successful the adjacent term.
• Approximately 2,100 borrowers who had their farms foreclosed connected and inactive had remaining indebtedness person had this indebtedness resolved successful bid to cease indebtedness collections and garnishment relieving that load that has made getting a caller commencement much difficult.

In summation to the automatic assistance already provided, USDA has besides outlined steps to administer up to an further $500 cardinal successful payments to payment the pursuing distressed borrowers:

• USDA volition administer $66 cardinal successful abstracted automatic payments, utilizing COVID-19 pandemic alleviation funds, to enactment up to 7,000 nonstop indebtedness borrowers who utilized FSA’s disaster-set-aside enactment during the pandemic to determination their scheduled payments to the extremity of their loans.
• USDA is besides initiating 2 case-by-case processes to supply further assistance to workplace indebtedness borrowers. Under the archetypal caller process, FSA volition reappraisal and assistance with delinquencies from 1,600 analyzable cases, including cases successful which borrowers are facing bankruptcy oregon foreclosure. The 2nd caller process volition adhd a caller enactment utilizing existing nonstop indebtedness servicing criteria to intervene much rapidly and assistance an estimated 14,000 financially distressed borrowers who petition assistance to debar adjacent becoming delinquent.

More details connected each of the categories of assistance, including a downloadable information sheet, are disposable connected the Inflation Reduction Act webpage connected farmers.gov.

Similar to different USDA assistance, each of these payments volition beryllium reported arsenic income and borrowers are encouraged to consult their taxation advisors. USDA besides has resources and partnerships with cooperators who tin supply further assistance and assistance borrowers navigate the process.

The announcement contiguous is lone the archetypal measurement successful USDA’s efforts to supply assistance to distressed workplace indebtedness borrowers and respond to farmers and to amended the indebtedness servicing efforts astatine USDA by adding much tools and relaxing unnecessary restrictions. Additional announcements and investments successful assistance volition beryllium made arsenic USDA institutes these further changes and improvements.

This effort volition yet besides see adding much tools and relaxing unnecessary restrictions done assistance made imaginable by Congress done the IRA. Further assistance and changes to the attack volition beryllium made successful consequent phases.

Background

USDA provides entree to recognition to astir 115,000 producers who cannot get capable commercialized recognition done nonstop and guaranteed workplace loans, which bash not see workplace retention installation loans oregon selling assistance loans. With the funds and absorption Congress provided successful Section 22006 of IRA, USDA is taking enactment to instantly supply alleviation to qualifying distressed borrowers whose operations are astatine fiscal hazard portion moving connected making transformational changes to however USDA goes astir indebtedness servicing successful the agelong tally truthful that borrowers are provided the flexibility and opportunities needed to code the inherent risks and unpredictability associated with cultivation operations and stay successful bully fiscal standing.

In January 2021, USDA suspended foreclosures and different adverse actions connected nonstop workplace loans owed to the pandemic and encouraged guaranteed lenders to travel suit. Last week, USDA reiterated this petition to guaranteed lenders to supply clip for the afloat acceptable of IRA distressed borrower assistance to beryllium made disposable earlier lenders instrumentality irreparable actions.

Producers tin research disposable indebtedness options utilizing the Farm Loan Discovery Tool connected farmers.gov (also disposable successful Spanish) oregon by contacting their local USDA Service Center. Producers tin besides telephone the FSA telephone halfway astatine 877-508-8364 betwixt 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern. USDA has tax-related resources disposable astatine farmers.gov/taxes.

USDA touches the lives of each Americans each time successful truthful galore affirmative ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s nutrient strategy with a greater absorption connected much resilient section and determination nutrient production, fairer markets for each producers, ensuring entree to safe, steadfast and nutritious nutrient successful each communities, gathering caller markets and streams of income for farmers and producers utilizing clime astute nutrient and forestry practices, making historical investments successful infrastructure and cleanable vigor capabilities successful agrarian America, and committing to equity crossed the Department by removing systemic barriers and gathering a workforce much typical of America. To larn more, sojourn www.usda.gov.

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