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Title II — Credit

S. 679 · 113th Congress · Apr 9, 2013 · Lineage

II Credit

Sec. 201 Loans to local and regional food producers

Subtitle D of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1981 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 333C the following new section:

“333D. Loans to local and regional food producers

“(a) In general—The Secretary shall make and guarantee loans under this title to eligible producers for the production of locally or regionally produced agricultural food products (as defined in section 310B(g)(9)), including qualified producers engaged in direct-to-consumer marketing, direct-to-institution marketing, or direct-to-store marketing, businesses or activities that produce a value-added agricultural product (as defined in section 231(a) of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 1632a(a)), mid-tier value chains (as defined in such section 231(a)), and other local and regional market outlets.

“(b) Training—The Secretary shall ensure that loan officers processing loans under this section receive appropriate training to serve borrowers and potential borrowers engaged in local and regional food production.

“(c) Valuation

“(1) In general—The Secretary shall develop ways to determine unit prices (or other appropriate forms of valuation) for crops and other agricultural products, the end use of which is intended to be in locally or regionally produced agricultural food products, to facilitate lending to local and regional food producers.

“(2) Price history—The Secretary shall implement a mechanism for local and regional food producers to establish price history for the crops and other agricultural products produced by such producers.

“(d) Outreach—The Secretary shall develop and implement an outreach strategy to engage and provide loan services to local and regional food producers.”

Sec. 202 Clarification of the mission of the farm credit system to recognize the economic benefits of supporting young, beginning, and small farmers and ranchers, and contributions of local and regional farm and food systems

Section 1.1 of the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. 2001) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(d) Recognizing that the vitality of United States agriculture and rural communities depends on the continued entry of young, beginning, and small farmers and ranchers into agriculture, many of whom will operate farms with local and regional food product distribution, it is declared to be the policy of the Congress and an objective of this Act that the Farm Credit System should endeavor to serve the credit and related needs of these individuals and the businesses on which they rely and that are necessary to the growth and vitality of local and regional farm and food systems.”

Sec. 203 Young, beginning, and small farmers and ranchers and locally or regionally produced agricultural products

(a)
Credit for young, beginning, and small farmers— Section 4.19(a) of the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C. 2207(a)) is amended—
(1)
in the first sentence by inserting “and for the production of locally or regionally produced agricultural food products (as defined in section 310B(g)(10)(A) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act)” before the period; and
(2)
by inserting after the second sentence the following: “Each such program shall include initiatives and may include grants to support current and future borrowers by helping to organize, build, expand, or improve infrastructure and markets for locally or regionally produced agricultural food products (as so defined).”.
(b)
Section 4.19 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 2207(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(c) The Farm Credit Administration shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate an annual report that contains a summary and analysis of the operations and achievements of the Farm Credit System as a whole in meeting the objectives of this section. The Farm Credit Administration shall notify the Congress whenever a program is out of compliance with this section, and indicate in the notice the steps the Farm Credit Administration is taking in response.”