   Celebrating 25 Years of USDA’s Farm Storage Facility Loan Program
USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is celebrating 25 years of the agency’s popular Farm Storage Facility Loan Program (FSFL) this month. For a quarter century, family-owned agricultural operations have received low-interest financing through the program to enhance or expand their operations and manage marketing of the commodities they produce by building or upgrading permanent and portable storage facilities and purchasing needed handling equipment.
“Participating in FSA’s Farm Storage Facility Loans program provides producers affordable financing that allows them to build an on-farm storage system the right way from day one — a system that provides grain handling capacity for years to come,” said FSA Administrator Bill Beam. “Many people think of grain storage when they hear on-farm commodity storage, but the reality is, the program has expanded over the past quarter century to include a variety of storage and handling options including bins, cold storage, trucks and more, all designed to help agricultural producers take their commodities from field to facility to the end user.”
The FSFL program was created in May 2000 to address existing on-farm grain storage needs. Since the program’s inception, more than 40,000 loans have been issued for on-farm storage, increasing storage capacity by one billion bushels. While many producers primarily associate the program with grain storage, over the past 25 years the eligible storage has expanded to include a wide variety of facilities and related equipment - new or used and permanent or portable - including hay barns, bulk tanks, and facilities for cold storage. Drying, handling and storage equipment is also eligible, including skid steers and storage and handling trucks.
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