# 119-s-2797: Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2025

119-s-2797, Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2797
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-2797
- Congress: 119
- Title: Capital for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-09-15
- Sponsor: Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Low-cost development loans for beginning farmers and ranchers.** This bill would create a USDA pilot to make or guarantee loans up to $100,000 for capital and business-development expenses that help new farmers build viable operations. - Beginning farmers and ranchers would be able to borrow up to $100,000 for defined "development expenditures" such as buying initial assets, improving soil, establishing breeding stock, or creating bookkeeping and payroll systems. - Loan terms would be flexible with 3–10 year repayment and interest capped at 3% with a 0% floor. Lenders could reduce collateral requirements based on a borrower’s experience. - Borrowers would be required to receive comprehensive training on bookkeeping, taxes, credit, cash flow, profitability, risk management, and regulatory compliance delivered through contracted providers or existing USDA programs. - The Secretary would establish the pilot within two years and provide biennial reports to congressional agriculture committees describing how the pilot operates and its outcomes.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Low-cost loans for beginning farmers: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would create a pilot loan program for qualified beginning farmers and ranchers. Loans would only pay for "development expenditures" such as equipment, soil and breeding improvements, bookkeeping and payroll systems, marketing, and other business-startup capital. Loans could be…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026
- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-5022: Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act
- 119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-2797 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/2797)

## Related
- [119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4668)
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [119-s-5022: Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5022)
- [119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2819)
- [119-s-5283: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5283)
- [119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1507)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2797 (as of 2026-04-21).