Farm Ownership Improvement Act

Bill: 118-s-5231
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT]
Introduced: 2024-09-25
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Latest action: action_date: 2024-09-25
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Summaries:
action_date: 2024-09-25
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Farm Ownership Improvement Act</strong></p><p>This bill directs the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish a pilot program to implement a pre-qualification or pre-approval process for farmers and ranchers for direct farm ownership loans. As background, the Farm Service Agency Direct Loan Program provides Farm Ownership Loans to farmers and ranchers for the purchase and development of farm property.</p><p>Under the five-year pilot program, USDA must prioritize outreach to organizations that have demonstrated engagement with beginning farmers or ranchers.</p><p>In addition, USDA may make use of alternative methods, including financial benchmarking, to reliably evaluate the financial viability of a participant in the pilot program and the likelihood of repayment of the applicable loan.</p><p>USDA must submit an annual report to Congress on the pilot program, which must include a description of the program's performance outcomes and a recommendation as to the pilot program's value.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5231 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES September 25, 2024 Mr. Welch (for himself, Mr. Hoeven , and Ms. Smith ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a pilot program to implement a pre-qualification or pre-approval process for farmers and ranchers with respect to a direct farm ownership loan under the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, and for other purposes.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Farm Ownership Improvement Act . 2. Direct farm ownership loan pilot program Subtitle D of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act is amended by inserting after section 374 ( 7 U.S.C. 2008i ) the following: 375. Direct farm ownership loan pilot program (a) Establishment of pilot program Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish a 5-year pilot program (referred to in this section as the pilot program ) to implement a pre-qualification or pre-approval process for farmers and ranchers with respect to a direct farm ownership loan under subtitle A. (b) Borrower viability and repayment assessment In carrying out section 360(b) with respect to a participant in the pilot program, the Secretary, as the Secretary determines to be appropriate, may make use of alternative methods, including financial benchmarking, to reliably evaluate the financial viability of the participant and the likelihood of repayment of the applicable loan. (c) Limitation This section shall not be interpreted to repeal any borrowing requirement imposed under subtitle A. (d) Outreach priority In conducting outreach relating to the pilot program, the Secretary shall prioritize outreach to organizations that have demonstrated engagement with beginning farmers or ranchers. (e) Evaluation and reports The Secretary shall— (1) evaluate the pilot program on an ongoing basis; and (2) annually submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives a written report that includes— (A) a description of the performance outcomes of the pilot program, including stakeholder and participant evaluations, assessments, and participation demographics, that includes the information described in section 5413(b)(1)(A)(iv) of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 ( 7 U.S.C. 2008x(b)(1)(A)(iv) ); and (B) a recommendation as to the value of the pilot program, including whether to authorize a permanent program modeled on the pilot program. .