7 U.S.C. § 2008x: Reporting

Summary

The Secretary of Agriculture must make a yearly report on every outstanding farm loan the Department makes or guarantees. The report must include aggregated borrower and loan details (eight types, including age, years farming, farm size, race/ethnicity/gender, commodity or enterprise, loan amount, loan type, and default rate). It must also show, for each State and county, how many loans exist by loan-size group and must compare actual loan participation to the target rates for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers (as described in 7 U.S.C. 1994(b)(2) and 2003). The first report was due December 30, 2019, and then one must be sent each year. Reports go to the House and Senate Agriculture and Appropriations Committees and must be made public within 90 days of that annual date. No later than 4 years after December 20, 2018 (and every 5 years after that), the Secretary must prepare a full review of all yearly reports. That review must find trends, check whether target participation rates are being met for each loan type, and list actions or recommendations to improve loans for underserved producers. The review goes to the same four committees and must be made public within 90 days. All data in reports and reviews must be grouped or stripped of identifiers so individual producers cannot be identified.

Title 7, §2008x

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Definition of farm loan

In this section, the term “farm loan” means—

(1)a farm ownership loan under subtitle A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922 et seq.); and

(2)an operating loan under subtitle B of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1941 et seq.).

(b)Reports

(1)Preparation

For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall prepare a report that includes—

(A)aggregate data based on a review of each outstanding farm loan made or guaranteed by the Secretary describing, for the United States and for each State and county in the United States—

(i)the age of the recipient producer;

(ii)the duration that the recipient producer has engaged in agricultural production;

(iii)the size of the farm or ranch of the recipient producer;

(iv)the race, ethnicity, and gender of the recipient producer;

(v)the agricultural commodity or commodities, or type of enterprise, for which the loan was secured;

(vi)the amount of the farm loan made or guaranteed;

(vii)the type of the farm loan made or guaranteed; and

(viii)the default rate of the farm loan made or guaranteed;

(B)for each State and county in the United States, data demonstrating the number of outstanding farm loans made or guaranteed, according to loan size cohort; and

(C)an assessment of actual loans made or guaranteed as measured against target participation rates for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, broken down by State, as described in section 346(b)(2) and 355 of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1994(b)(2), 2003).

(2)Submission of report

The report described in paragraph (1) shall be—

(A)submitted—

(i)to—

(I)the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives;

(II)the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;

(III)the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and

(IV)the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(ii)not later than December 30, 2019, and annually thereafter; and

(B)made publicly available not later than 90 days after the date described in subparagraph (A)(ii).

(c)Comprehensive review

(1)In general

Not later than 4 years after December 20, 2018 (and every 5 years thereafter), the Secretary shall—

(A)prepare a comprehensive review of all reports submitted under subsection (b)(2);

(B)identify trends within data outlined in subsection (b)(1), including the extent to which target annual participation rates for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers (as defined by the Secretary) are being met for each loan type; and

(C)provide specific actions the Department will take to improve the performance of direct and guaranteed loans with respect to underserved producers and any recommendations the Secretary may make for further congressional action.

(2)Submission of comprehensive review

The comprehensive review described in paragraph (1) shall be—

(A)submitted to—

(i)the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives;

(ii)the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives;

(iii)the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and

(iv)the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(B)made publicly available not later than 90 days after the date of submission under subparagraph (A).

(d)Privacy

In preparing any report or review under this section, the Secretary shall aggregate or de-identify the data in a manner sufficient to ensure that the identity of a recipient producer associated with the data cannot be ascertained.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is title III of Pub. L. 87–128, Aug. 8, 1961, 75 Stat. 307. Subtitles A and B of the Act are classified generally to subchapters I (§ 1922 et seq.) and II (§ 1941 et seq.), respectively, of this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1921 of this title and Tables. Codification Section was enacted as part of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, and not as part of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definition of “Secretary” “Secretary” as meaning the Secretary of Agriculture, see section 2 of Pub. L. 115–344, set out as a note under section 9001 of this title.

§2008x Reporting