The House Ag Committee has endorsed a plan to use 82-million dollars to help livestock farmers get cheaper loans. The money, now in state reserveaccounts, would be lent to banks and would be used to reduce interest rates on farmers’ loans by three percentage points. Representative Sandy Greiner, a republican from Keota, was the bill’s sponsor. Greiner says the typical operating loan for a cattle and hog producer in Iowa has an eight percent interest rate. Greiner says the state help would only be available to “independent” family farmers. Greiner predicts the bill has only a 50/50 shot at becoming law.
