USDA suspends some debt collections, foreclosures
Actions temporarily suspended for several thousand distressed borrowers due to coronavirus
From Montana FSA BOZEMAN Due to the national public health emergency caused by coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week the temporary suspension of past-due debt collections and foreclosures for distressed borrowers under the Farm Storage Facility Loan and the Direct Farm Loan programs administered by the Farm Service Agency. USDA will temporarily suspend non-judicial foreclosures, debt offsets or wage garnishments, and referal to foreclosures to the Department of Justice. USDA will work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to sto.
Ag News: Past-Due Farm Loan Collection and Empty Cargo Containers
Getty Images Thanks to COVID-19, the USDA has temporarily suspended past-due debt collections and foreclosures for distressed borrowers under the Farm Storage Facility Loan and the Direct Farm Loan programs administered by the Farm Service Agency.
According to www.agrimarketing.com, the announcement expands previous actions undertaken by the USDA to lessen financial hardship.
According to USDA data, more than 12,000 borrowers, approximately 10% of all borrowers, are eligible for the relief. While U.S. ag exports rose in the second half of the year, there’s mounting evidence shipping companies are leaving U.S. ports and returning to Asia with empty cargo containers rather than filling them with American ag products.
President Joe Biden believes agriculture has an important role to play in addressing climate change. When signing the climate change executive order, Biden said, “We see farmers making American agriculture first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions and gaining new sources of income in the process.”
The executive order stated: “America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners have an important role to play in combating the climate crisis and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by sequestering carbon in soils, grasses, trees, and other vegetation and sourcing sustainable bioproducts and fuels.”
It directs USDA to “collect input from farmers, ranchers, and other stakeholders on how to use federal programs to encourage adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices that produce verifiable carbon reductions and sequestrations and create new sources of income and jobs for rural Americans.”