I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1297 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to expand 

eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2013 

Mr. OWENS (for himself, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. HANNA) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 

Act to expand eligibility for Farm Service Agency loans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Agricultural Credit Ex5 pansion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY FOR FARM LOANS. 

7 (a) FARM OWNERSHIP LOANS.—Section 302(a) of 

8 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 

9 U.S.C. 1922(a)) is amended— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1297 IH

1 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The’’ and 

2 inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—The’’; 

5 (2) in the 1st sentence, by inserting after ‘‘lim6 ited liability companies’’ the following: ‘‘, and such 

7 other legal entities as the Secretary deems appro8 priate,’’; 

9 (3) in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating 

10 clauses (1) through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), 

11 respectively; 

12 (4) in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by 

13 striking ‘‘and limited liability companies’’ each place 

14 it appears and inserting ‘‘limited liability companies, 

15 and such other legal entities’’; and 

16 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL DEEMING RULES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN OPER19 ATING-ONLY ENTITIES.—An entity that is or 

20 will become only the operator of a family farm 

21 is deemed to meet the owner-operator require22 ments of paragraph (1) if the individuals that 

23 are the owners of the family farm own more 

24 than 50 percent (or such other percentage as 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1297 IH

1 the Secretary determines is appropriate) of the 

2 entity. 

3 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN EMBEDDED

4 ENTITIES.—An entity that is an owner-operator 

5 described in paragraph (1), or an operator de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph 

7 that is owned, in whole or in part, by other en8 tities, is deemed to meet the direct ownership 

9 requirement imposed under paragraph (1) if at 

10 least 75 percent of the ownership interests of 

11 each embedded entity of such entity is owned 

12 directly or indirectly by the individuals that own 

13 the family farm.’’. 

14 (b) CONSERVATION LOANS.—Section 304(c)(1) of 

15 such Act (7 U.S.C. 1924(c)(1)) is amended by inserting 

16 after ‘‘limited liability companies’’ the following: ‘‘, or such 

17 other legal entities as the Secretary deems appropriate,’’. 

18 (c) FARM OPERATING LOANS.—Section 311(a) of 

19 such Act (7 U.S.C. 1941(a)) is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The’’ and 

21 inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—The’’; 

24 (2) in the 1st sentence, by inserting after ‘‘lim25 ited liability companies’’ the following: ‘‘, and such 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1297 IH

1 other legal entities as the Secretary deems appro2 priate,’’; 

3 (3) in the 2nd sentence, by redesignating 

4 clauses (1) through (4) as clauses (A) through (D), 

5 respectively; 

6 (4) in each of the 2nd and 3rd sentences, by 

7 striking ‘‘and limited liability companies’’ each place 

8 it appears and inserting ‘‘limited liability companies, 

9 and such other legal entities’’; and 

10 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL DEEMING RULE.—An entity that 

12 is an operator described in paragraph (1) that is 

13 owned, in whole or in part, by other entities, is 

14 deemed to meet the direct ownership requirement 

15 imposed under paragraph (1) if at least 75 percent 

16 of the ownership interests of each embedded entity 

17 of such entity is owned directly or indirectly by the 

18 individuals that own the family farm.’’. 

19 (d) EMERGENCY LOANS.—Section 321(a) of such Act 

20 (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘owner-operators (in the case of 

22 loans for a purpose under subtitle A) or operators 

23 (in the case of loans for a purpose under subtitle 

24 B)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(in the 

25 case of farm ownership loans in accordance with 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1297 IH

1 subtitle A) owner-operators or operators, or (in the 

2 case of loans for a purpose under subtitle B) opera3 tors’’; 

4 (2) by inserting after ‘‘limited liability compa5 nies’’ the 1st place it appears the following: ‘‘, or 

6 such other legal entities as the Secretary deems ap7 propriate’’; 

8 (3) by inserting after ‘‘limited liability compa9 nies’’ the 2nd place it appears the following: ‘‘, or 

10 other legal entities’’; 

11 (4) by striking ‘‘and limited liability compa12 nies,’’ and inserting ‘‘limited liability companies, and 

13 such other legal entities’’; 

14 (5) by striking ‘‘ownership and operator’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘ownership or operator’’; and 

16 (6) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An en17 tity that is an owner-operator or operator described 

18 in this subsection is deemed to meet the direct own19 ership requirement imposed under this subsection if 

20 the entity is owned, in whole or in part, by other en21 tities and each individual that is an owner of the 

22 family farm involved has a direct or indirect owner23 ship interest in each of the other entities.’’. 

24 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1297 IH

1 (1) Section 304(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 

2 1924(c)(2)) by striking ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

3 section 302(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 

4 and (B) of section 302(a)(1)’’. 

5 (2) Section 310D of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1934) 

6 is amended— 

7 (A) by inserting after ‘‘partnership’’ the 

8 following: ‘‘, or such other legal entities as the 

9 Secretary deems appropriate,’’; and 

10 (B) by inserting after ‘‘partners’’ the fol11 lowing: ‘‘, or owners,’’. 

12 (3) Section 343(a)(11) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 

13 1991(a)(11)) is amended— 

14 (A) by inserting after ‘‘joint operation,’’ 

15 the 1st place it appears the following: ‘‘or such 

16 other legal entity as the Secretary deems appro17 priate,’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘or joint operators’’ each 

19 place it appears and inserting ‘‘joint operators, 

20 or owners’’; and 

21 (C) by inserting after ‘‘joint operation,’’ 

22 each other place it appears the following: ‘‘or 

23 such other legal entity,’’. 

24 (4) Section 359(c)(2) of such Act (7 U.S.C. 

25 2006a(c)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1297 IH

1 302(a)(2) or 311(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

2 302(a)(1)(B) or 311(a)(1)(B)’’. 

Æ 


jbell on DSK7SPTVN1PROD with BILLS