Vilsack: Debt assistance offers more opportunities for help - Agri-Pulse

The Biden administration's apical ag authoritative says $800 cardinal successful indebtedness alleviation announced earlier this week volition not lone assistance distressed farmers facing foreclosure but supply “opportunities for much farmers to person help.”

Speaking connected this week's Agri-Pulse Newsmakers, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said adjacent for producers who are already existent connected their existing USDA loans, the alleviation volition person its benefits.

“In essence, what folks get retired of this is we'll trim the magnitude of foreclosure enactment that's progressive with USDA, successful doing truthful volition little the subsidy rate, which volition mean that we'll beryllium capable to utilize the resources that Congress provides for loans to assistance much farmers,” helium said.

Vilsack says the magnitude of lending that takes spot is based connected the fig of foreclosures and losses crossed USDA's astir 115,000 borrowers. By minimizing the fig of foreclosures, Vilsack argued USDA volition capable to lend retired much loans to each farmers.

In summation to the $800 cardinal successful assistance, USDA besides announced earlier this week a much “proactive” indebtedness servicing approach, thing Vilsack said volition let section Farm Service Agency officials to “work with the farmer, not against the farmer” and debar bankruptcies oregon foreclosures.

Vilsack besides addressed climate-smart commodity investments astatine USDA, saying much investments should beryllium expected by November connected apical of the $2.8 cardinal successful projects unveiled successful September.

Speaking during a Newsmakers sheet discussion, Dave White, a erstwhile Natural Resources Conservation Service main present with the 9b Group, said that benignant of concern — and the resulting maturation successful conservation practices connected the crushed — volition necessitate much assistance for producers.

“With this benignant of wealth coming in, it's going to beryllium each hands connected deck,” White said. “NRCS doesn't person capable method people, they bash a large occupation but they're conscionable not capable of them.”

White was joined connected the sheet by Dana Brooks of the Pet Food Institute and Michael Dykes with the International Dairy Foods Association, who some addressed sustainability concerns facing their respective members connected apical of different issues captious to PFI and IDFA.

The afloat interrogation with Vilsack and implicit sheet treatment tin beryllium seen connected Agri-Pulse Newsmakers.

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