Bill > S910

This bill establishes a 5-year pilot program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture to create a pre-qualification or pre-approval process for direct farm ownership loans, which are financial instruments designed to help farmers and ranchers purchase land or make improvements to agricultural properties. The Secretary of Agriculture must implement this program within two years of the bill's enactment and will have the flexibility to use alternative methods like financial benchmarking to assess a farmer's financial viability and loan repayment potential. The bill requires the Secretary to prioritize outreach to organizations that work with beginning farmers and ranchers, and mandates annual reporting to Congressional agricultural committees, including details about program performance, participant demographics, and a recommendation on whether the pilot program should become a permanent initiative. Importantly, the bill does not eliminate any existing borrowing requirements for farm ownership loans, but instead seeks to create a more streamlined and potentially more accessible loan application process for agricultural producers.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/910/all-info