Bill would forgive young farmers’ student loans

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> A bill with bipartisan backing is designed to help young farmers by forgiving their student loans.

U.S. Representatives John Faso, R-N.Y., Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Joe Courtney, D-Ct., are lead sponsors of the Young Farmer Success Act, which has been introduced in the Republicancontrolled House of Representatives.

Each lawmaker is trying to line up additional co-sponsors, although a timeline for voting on the measure hasn’t been determined.

“Groups from all over the country are calling on Congress to support the Young Farmer Success Act because they know the future of our national food system depends upon developing a new generation of farmers,” said Andrew Bahrenburg, national policy director for the National Young Farmers Coalition. “America needs young farmers to support our rural economies and feed our citizens for generations to come. Young farmer support must be a national priority.”

The bill would incentivize careers in agriculture by adding farmers to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which currently includes professions such as government service, teaching and nursing. Under the program, eligible public service professionals who make 10 years of income-driven student loan payments can have the balance of their loans forgiven.

Farming is an expensive business to enter, in part because of skyrocketing land prices, and beginning farmers often see small profits or even losses in their first years of business. In 2011, the coalition conducted a survey of 1,000 young farmers and found that 78 percent of respondents struggled with a lack of capital.

A 2014 follow-up survey of 700 young farmers with student loan debt found that the average burden of student loans was $35,000 and that 53 percent of respondents are currently farming, but have a hard time making their student loan payments, while another 30 percent are interested in farming, but haven’t pursued it as a career because their salary as a farmer wouldn’t be enough to cover their student loan payments.

More than 100 agricultural, business and nonprofit organizations have signed a letter urging Congress to support the bill. These include Family Farm Alliance, National Farmers Union, National FFA Organization and the American Sustainable Business Council.