Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to rapidly implement the funding authorized under Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed into law by President Biden last month. This provision authorizes payments to distressed farm loan borrowers whose agricultural operations are at financial risk. Joining Senator Warnock in signing this letter was U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). In their letter, the Senators also urged the USDA to quickly carry out another provision of the IRA which provides financial assistance for farmers who have suffered discrimination in USDA farm lending programs.

“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,” wrote Senator Warnock and his colleagues in a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “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.”

The Senators also urged the USDA “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.”

Earlier this month, Senator Warnock secured $300 million to help eliminate barriers to land, capital, and market access for underserved farmers. A steadfast ally of Georgia’s agricultural industry and farmers, Senator Warnock fought to secure over $5 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act for economically-distressed farmers in Georgia and across the country, including $3.1 billion to provide relief to the most at-risk farmers and $2.2 billion for farmers who have suffered discrimination by USDA. 

The full text of the letter can be found here and below:

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.

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