Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Tuesday that thousands of farmers in debt have received $800 million in loan relief and that his department will use congressional funding to take a more proactive approach to reduce delinquencies and foreclosures.
Congress provided $3.1 billion for economically distressed farmers and ranchers in an August budget reconciliation package. The law was designed to aid those with direct loans from the Farm Service Agency or commercial loans guaranteed by the agency.
Lawmakers left it to the Agriculture Department to define economically distressed, and Vilsack said in a call with reporters that the definition will include a broad range of farmers and ranchers under financial pressure. The Farm Service Agency is the lender of last resort to an estimated 115,000 borrowers.
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