01.10.19

Hoeven to Perdue: Deem USDA Loan Programs Essential to Provide Producers with Access to Credit

Senator Meets with ND Ag Commissioner Goehring on the Issue

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, this week spoke with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue to outline the importance of continuing essential USDA loan programs while negotiations continue to reach agreement on funding the government and border security. 

The senator also met with North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring to discuss the issue and work to mitigate impacts on the state’s farmers and ranchers during the partial government shutdown. 

“With the closure of FSA county and state offices, there is concern that producers will not have access to important loan programs that provide them with the necessary cashflow to operate,” said Hoeven. “I spoke with USDA Secretary Perdue to request that USDA work with OMB to deem these loan programs essential and ensure that these loans are processed for our producers.”

“The government shutdown is impacting some of our North Dakota producers,” North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said. “Farmers and ranchers are critical to food security and food supply across the globe and access to services provided by USDA are essential.”

USDA provides loans through both the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). The CCC is meant to provide stability in farm income and prices, and enables farmers to utilize Marketing Assistance Loans (MAL), a critical loan program which provides farmers with the temporary funds to hold their products off the market until prices improve. FSA provides both Guaranteed and Direct Farm Operating and Ownership loans to provide producers with access to credit. 

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