To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to modify limitations on amounts of farm ownership loans and operating loans, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
This bill raises the caps on federal farm loans administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency. Direct farm ownership loans would increase from $600,000 to $850,000 and guaranteed ownership loans from $1.75 million to $3 million. Direct operating loans would rise from $400,000 to $750,000 and guaranteed operating loans from $1.75 million to $2.6 million. Microloans would double from $50,000 to $100,000. The bill also changes how loan limits are adjusted for inflation, switching from the Prices Paid By Farmers Index to a weighted average of farm real estate, cropland, and pasture land values. It modifies the down payment loan program by removing a dollar cap on loan amounts. A new provision allows distressed guaranteed loans to be refinanced into direct loans when borrowers cannot work out terms with their lender, subject to safeguards. The bill includes a Sense of Congress that farm loans should be fully funded to meet demand and support beginning farmers.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Increases federal farm loan limits for ownership loans, operating loans, microloans, and down payment loans under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act; modernizes the inflation adjustment index for loan caps; and allows refinancing of distressed guaranteed loans into direct loans.
Who Benefits
- Farmers and ranchers seeking larger federal loans
- Beginning farmers and ranchers
- Farm borrowers with distressed guaranteed loans
Who Bears Costs
- Federal government (increased loan exposure and subsidy costs)
- Farm Service Agency (new refinancing program administration)
- Private agricultural lenders (may lose guaranteed loan business to direct refinancing)
Key Policy Areas
{'domain': 'Agriculture', 'evidence': 'Amends USDA Farm Service Agency loan programs under Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act'}, {'domain': 'Finance', 'evidence': 'Modifies loan limits, inflation indexing, down payment program, microloan caps, and refinancing rules'}
Primary Purpose
Increases federal farm loan limits for ownership loans, operating loans, microloans, and down payment loans under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act; modernizes the inflation adjustment index for loan caps; and allows refinancing of distressed guaranteed loans into direct loans.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Modernize and expand USDA farm lending to keep pace with rising agricultural land values and operational costs, making federal credit more accessible to farmers and ranchers including beginning operations"
Sponsors
John Hoeven
R-ND | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Hoeven (for himself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Beginning farmers using the FSA down payment loan program, Farmers and ranchers, Farmers and ranchers seeking federal farm ownership and operating loans
Farm Service Agency, Federal government, USDA Farm Service Agency
Agricultural lenders issuing guaranteed loans, Private agricultural lenders holding guaranteed loans
Positive-direction: Agricultural lenders issuing guaranteed loans
Negative-direction: Private agricultural lenders holding guaranteed loans
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the Farm Service Agency
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology