Farm Credit Helping Farmers Weather Spring Storms

Farm Credit Services of Illinois announced a “Weather The Storm” loan program in July to provide immediate financial relief to Illinois farmers. The announcement comes in response to a challenging planting season marked by historic rainfall and flooding. The loan program offers up to a $100,000 operating line-of-credit per qualified farming operation at a significantly low fixed rate of 3.50% for up to six months.

“As a farmer owned and operated financial lending cooperative, we understand the impact that flooding has had on farmers throughout central and southern Illinois. Not only did the wet spring delay corn and soybean planting and require significant re-planting, but many fields still have ponds or areas that will produce little–if any–crop this year,” says Dave Owens, president and C.E.O. of Farm Credit Services of Illinois. “We are committed to help ease the pain caused both by Mother Nature and by rising fuel and input costs for farmers.”

The “Weather The Storm” loan program is immediately available to all creditworthy farmers in the southern 60 counties of Illinois. The special 3.50% interest rate will be fixed for up to six months from the date of the loan or through March 1, 2009 – whichever comes first. The program is limited to a maximum of $100,000 in operating loans per farming operation and can be used for either 2008 or 2009 input costs.

The lateness of the corn and soybean crop and the extensive replanting that was done makes yield prospects very uncertain for the coming harvest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is still assessing the impact of the extraordinary rainfall and flooding in the Midwest. Widespread flooding and replanting in Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Minnesota , Missouri , and Wisconsin has required USDA to conduct a special survey in those areas to provide a clearer picture of projected crop harvests.

Farm Credit Services of Illinois provides more than $2 billion of farm and agricultural financing to 8,000 farmers, landowners, and agri-businesses throughout the southern 60 counties of Illinois.