The Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation approved 16 loans worth a total of nearly 2-point-8 million dollars at its monthly board meeting Friday. A quarter-million of that will go to a farmer in Woodford County for a Beginning Farmer loan. Beau Neal took over as Woodford’s Agriculture and Natural Resources extension agent at the beginning of the year.
“For younger farmers or beginning farmers, capital's not always an option and you're always in the market for a lower interest rate just to help, you know, make ends meet from month to month when you're making these payments.”
A dozen of the 16 loans approved are for the Beginning Farmer Loan Program. Bill McCloskey of the Kentucky Office on Agriculture Policy said eligible recipients have owned a family farm for less than a decade. Neal is a farmer himself who took part in the program a few years ago.
“Ours was used for real estate and to purchase a farm that we now live on. But I know a lot of folks have expanded significantly with it, whether that's infrastructure for livestock or, you know, equipment, facilities.”
Neal said the Beginning Farmer Loan Program, which also involves a local lender, helps awardees manage land payments and other expenses.
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