Farmer Mac Quarterly Report and Next Ag Secretary
From the Ag Information Network, this is your Agribusiness Update.
**The Federal Ag Mortgage Corporation, or Farmer Mac, the nation’s secondary market provider that increases the accessibility of financing for agriculture and rural America, announced the recent fiscal quarter results.
The third quarter ended on September 30 and net interest income was $86.8 million, compared to $87.6 million in the third quarter of last year.
Farmer Mac provided $2 billion in liquidity and lending capacity to lenders serving rural America.
**Speculation has already begun on who the next Secretary of Agriculture will be when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.
Successful Farming says Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller, former ambassador Kip Tom, and NASDA’s Ted McKinney are among a handful of potential nominees.
Incoming presidents typically try to announce their nominees before the year-end holidays, but Trump didn’t announce Sonny Perdue until two days before his inauguration.
**The USDA is continuing its support for local foods in schools by opening applications for the 2025 Patrick Leahy (LAY-hee) Farm to School Grants.
USDA is allowing organizations to select the type of Farm to School Grant that best fits their needs with three different offerings.
The Implementation Grant supports establishing or expanding farm-to-school projects.
The State Agency Grant helps state-level agencies do the same.
And the Turnkey Grant helps with farm-to-school activities, ag education, or edible gardens.
