Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991 TAG: 9102140151
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
A crisis in farm credit could develop in the next 60 to 90 days as farmers hit by the recession as well as recent floods, freezes and droughts seek loans to get their 1991 crops in the ground this spring, say members of Congress and spokesmen for farm groups.
They will face banks and a Farmers Home Administration that have tightened the clamps on loans, officials said.
Steve Pringle, the Texas Farm Bureau's director of national affairs, said he knows of one farmer who went to 12 bankers before finding a lender 75 miles away.
"The financial crisis facing farmers right now is going to become even more evident here in the next 60 to 90 days," he said.
Joe Rankin, president of the Texas Farmers Union, said there will be "more of a mass exodus" from the farm than in the early 1980s.
Farmers Home did say it soon will issue temporary regulations so it can make loans to hard-pressed farmers in time for spring planting.
"I expect recessionary pressures to make it harder for Texas farmers to get financing for their crops this year, but that's only part of the problem," said Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, D-Texas.
Add to adverse weather the rising costs of diesel fuel, he said. "And on top of that, the Farmers Home Administration is making it tougher for farmers to get credit while at the same time dragging its feet on implementing changes mandated by the 1990 farm bill."
by CNB