Letter to Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture - Senator Reverend Warnock Urges USDA to Quickly Provide Assistance to Distressed Farmers

Letter

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

We write today regarding implementation of the funding authorized in Section 22006 of the
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide
immediate relief for farm loan borrowers with at-risk agricultural operations.

As you work to quickly implement this section, we urge you to consider borrowers 90 days or
more delinquent, borrowers in foreclosure, borrowers who have had their farm loan restructured
and borrowers who owe USDA more interest than principal as distressed borrowers whose
agricultural operations are at financial risk, and we urge you to provide these farmers with
substantial relief as expeditiously as possible.

Thousands of USDA borrowers are struggling to make ends meet and are barely holding on to
their farms, and it is critical that USDA provide assistance to these farmers prior to the expiration
of the current USDA foreclosure moratorium. Now that Congress has provided USDA these
critical resources, it is our expectation that distressed farmers with USDA direct and guaranteed
loans will be able to remain on their land.

In addition, we urge you to quickly begin the selection process for non-governmental entities to
administer Section 22007 of the IRA, which will provide much needed financial assistance to Black farmers and others who have suffered discrimination through USDA's farm lending
programs.

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Source