I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5877 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct 

the Secretary of Agriculture to create the USDA Express Guaranteed 

Farm Ownership and Guaranteed Farm Operating Loan programs, enabling faster access to credit for America’s farmers and ranchers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 3, 2023 

Mr. FINSTAD (for himself and Ms. CRAIG) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 

Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to create the 

USDA Express Guaranteed Farm Ownership and Guaranteed Farm Operating Loan programs, enabling faster 

access to credit for America’s farmers and ranchers. 

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 ‘‘USDA Express Loan 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USDA EXPRESS LOANS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Consolidated 

3 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 310J. USDA EXPRESS GUARANTEED FARM OWNER6 SHIP LOAN PROGRAM. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Within 1 year after the date of 

8 the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish 

9 a program, which shall be known as the ‘USDA Express 

10 Guaranteed Farm Ownership Loan Program’, under 

11 which, within 36 hours after receipt of an application to 

12 guarantee a farm ownership loan that meets the require13 ment of subsection (e) originated by a USDA express lend14 er, the Secretary shall notify the lender as to whether the 

15 application is approved or disapproved. 

16 ‘‘(b) USDA EXPRESS LENDER DEFINED.—In this 

17 section, the term ‘USDA express lender’ means any regu18 lated lender authorized by the Secretary to participate in 

19 the guaranteed farm ownership loan program under this 

20 subtitle. 

21 ‘‘(c) DOCUMENTS.—In originating a loan for consid22 eration under this section, a USDA express lender may 

23 use any loan documents that incorporate the loan anal24 yses, procedures, and documentation of the lender, or such 

25 other documents as the Secretary may prescribe. 


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1 ‘‘(d) CREDIT DECISIONS.—Before submitting an ap2 plication pursuant to this section, a USDA express lender 

3 shall determine the creditworthiness, and ascertain the re4 payment ability, of the borrower involved. 

5 ‘‘(e) LOANS ELIGIBLE FOR GUARANTEE.—The Sec6 retary shall not accept an application under this section 

7 with respect to a loan that exceeds $1,000,000 per farm 

8 or ranch operation per year. 

9 ‘‘(f) MAXIMUM GUARANTEE.—The percentage of the 

10 principal amount of a loan which may be guaranteed pur11 suant to this section shall not exceed— 

12 ‘‘(1) 75 percent, in the case of a loan not ex13 ceeding $750,000; or 

14 ‘‘(2) 50 percent, in the case of a loan of more 

15 than $750,000 and not more than $1,000,000. 

16 ‘‘(g) USE OF LOAN PROCEEDS.—The borrower of a 

17 loan guaranteed pursuant to this section shall use the loan 

18 proceeds only to produce agricultural commodities con19 sistent with the purposes of the guaranteed loan programs 

20 under this title. 

21 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue such 

22 regulations as are necessary to implement this section.’’. 

23 (b) Section 312 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1942) is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) USDA EXPRESS GUARANTEED FARM OPER2 ATING LOANS.—The Secretary shall establish a USDA 

3 Express Guaranteed Farm Operating Loan Program on 

4 the same basis as the USDA Express Guaranteed Farm 

5 Ownership Loans Program under section 310J.’’. 

Æ 


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