Bicarmel Support for Agriculture Access to Credit

The development of rural America hinges on access to good credit. By aligning agricultural loan programs with the evolving face of farming, it becomes easier for young farmers to secure crucial credit for their farming and ranching endeavors. rising interest rates pose a pressing concern in this landscape, and the American Bankers Association has taken proactive steps such as the creation and advocacy of the Acre Act. Ed Elfmann, senior vice president of agriculture and rural banking policy with the American Bankers Association sheds light on this initiative.

“We are working and have worked with some others on a piece of legislation called the ACRE Act-Access to Credit for Our Rural Economy Act. What that would do is remove the taxation on income earned from interests on farm real estate, rural housing, and aquaculture. But what that would ultimately do from our analysis is lower interest rates (by) 50 to 150 basis points, because when you put together an interest rate, its costs, and its risk so we can lower the cost side we can lower the interest rate. So that's one way we're going to try to fight the interest rate rising interest rate environment. The other thing with ACRE is that it's got 46 co-sponsors in the house. It's just starting to work through the Senate as well. It's bipartisan, bicameral access to credit is a huge issue in rural America. It really is, and we need to do everything we can to lower that cost of credit and provide it to as many people as possible."

Ed Elfmann with the American Bankers Association.