The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 made permanent the interest assistance program for the Farm Service Agency's guaranteed loans, authorized a significant increase in funding for the program, and targeted funding for beginning farmers and ranchers. The research presented here...

The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct farm loan program is designed to provide credit to family-sized farms unable to obtain credit from conventional sources at reasonable rates and terms despite having sufficient cash flow to repay and an ability to fully securitize the loan. FSA policy...

Classical and count data regression models are estimated to predict improvement in three key financial indicators—net worth, debt-to-asset ratio and current ratio—as well as the number of loan restructurings and delinquencies. Data consist of Farm Service Agency direct loans originated in...

This paper presents a detailed summary analysis of commercial bank, Farm Credit System (FCS), and other commercial lenders use of Farm Service Agency (FSA) guaranteed loan program over the time period fiscal 1993-2003. Key aspects of the guaranteed program are examined including the usage level...

The Farm Service Agency (FSA) direct farm loan programs provide credit to family-sized farms including beginning farmers and socially disadvantaged applicants. Approximately 37 percent of all U.S. farms are estimated to be eligible for FSA direct loans when farm size, credit needs, years of...

The Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) interest assistance interest assistance program allows lenders to enter into an agreement with FSA to subsidize a guaranteed farm operating loan by reducing the interest rate charged to the borrower by up to four percentage points. With fiscal 1997-2003 data, an...