A Helping Hand When You're
Starting From Scratch
Launching a farming enterprise can be an anxiety-producing experience. MidAtlantic Farm Credit’s StartRight Program for young, beginning, small, and minority (YBSM) farmers replaces the uncertainty with a support system that incorporates three key resources to help ensure success: access to credit, mentoring and research, and education.
If you are a young, beginning, small, or minority farmer, we are ready to help you with a special credit program. This program is designed to help you access credit and build the foundations for a successful operation. Here’s how:
Low Interest Term and Operating Loans
Starting a farm operation takes a lot of capital. Whether you want to purchase land or equipment or just purchase seed or fertilizer, the StartRight program offers low interest term and operating loans to help you get started right.
Low Interest Best Management Practice (BMP) Loans
Efforts to improve water quality and implement federal and/or state approved agricultural conservation practices, manure management and other BMPs can be difficult to afford. For the portions of projects not covered by federal or state cost share programs, or other water quality interest subsidy programs, MidAtlantic offers low interest loans to encourage the adoption of these best practices.
FSA or Other Government Agency Loan Guarantee Fee Reimbursement
Sometimes it’s necessary to obtain Farm Service Agency (FSA) or other government agency loan note guarantees. In those cases, we may be able to reimburse 50% of the initial loan note guarantee fee up to $1,000 for YBSM borrowers.
Farmland Financing Program
We realize that one of the greatest challenges facing farmers today is the acquisition of farmland. That’s why we’ve developed the StartRight Farmland Financing program. This program will grant an interest only period loan to allow you to keep debt service low while seeking easement funds. And, this program is available for all farmers, not just young, beginning, small, and minority. You just have to have an on-going agricultural operation that is managed by the person or persons making the loan application under the StartRight program.
Are you eligible?
The credit programs are designed for customers who have less than $2 million in annual gross sales of agricultural products and who, in addition, meet at least one other of the following criteria:
- Young - 35 years of age or younger on the date of loan closing
- Beginning - 10 years or less of agricultural experience
- Minority - American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, a person whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race, and women. Minority borrowers must own at least 51% of the operation
Research Resources
Sometimes you need a helping hand. If you would like to learn more about our resource program, please click here.
Ongoing Education
MidAtlantic offers educational opportunities to farmers through our events, scholarships, partnerships with ag associations, and sponsorships, and continues to seek ways to expand its offerings. We also offer the AgBiz Masters program - an interactive educational learning series. Click this link for more information on this program.
Loans
MidAtlantic Farm Credit is part of the Farm Credit System. Toll Free: 888.339.3334
