Farm Ownership Improvement Act

Pre-approval pilot for farm loans

If enacted, this bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture to set up a five-year pilot for pre-qualification or pre-approval of direct farm ownership loans. The pilot must be established no later than two years after enactment and would run for five years after it starts. For people in the pilot, the Secretary could use alternative checks, including financial benchmarking, to judge financial viability and repayment chances. The Secretary would have to prioritize outreach to groups that work with beginning farmers and send an annual report to the House and Senate agriculture committees that describes performance, participant demographics, and a recommendation about making the pilot permanent. This would not repeal any existing loan borrowing requirements under current law.