The Farm Service Agency has distributed roughly $2.3 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding for distressed farm loan borrowers, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
Congress authorized $3.1 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 to aid producers who had fallen behind on loan payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and adverse weather.
So far, almost half of all borrowers received payments of $25,000 or less, according to the report. Less than 2% of borrowers received over $500,000.
Delinquent farm loans were highest in the Plains states from (North Dakota through Texas) and the South (Arkansas through Florida). A total of 52% of the assistance has gone to borrowers in those two regions, GAO said. Roughly 16% has gone to farmers in the Atlantic region, 13% to farmers in the Midwest and 12% to farmers in the West.
In June, FSA reported it was processing around $150 million in assistance, the report said. In October, another $250 million in funding was announced for roughly 4,600 distressed borrowers, with an anticipated remaining balance of around $300 million.
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