Farmers Encouraged to Apply for Farm Storage Facility Loans

Wallaces Farmer
By: Rod Swoboda Published: Aug 25, 2009

USDA program to make loans available for farmers for grain bins and other storage facilities has been improved.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, is encouraging farmers to apply for the improved USDA Farm Storage Facility Loan Program. New rules were recently implemented, which make the program even more beneficial and accessible to agricultural producers. Harkin worked to include these changes to the program in the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 - commonly called the 2008 Farm Bill.

"Whether farmers are growing typical field crops, biomass for biofuels or vegetables for the dinner table, they need storage facilities to help protect their crops," says Harkin. "The problem is that storage facilities can be quite expensive, and many producers, particularly those who are just getting into the business of farming, don't have access to the capital they need in order to purchase the facilities that will enable them to more efficiently and profitably run their farms."

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