Ducheneaux Wants To Improve The FSA Loan Process

FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux said he would like to see changes to the federal farm loan system.  He said he would like to see FSA operate less like a lending institution and more like a federal government initiative.  He said right now, one of the biggest challenges is that many of the Department’s loan officers have a more conservative frame of mind then needed, which he says does not result in the best loan terms for producers.

Ducheneaux said USDA is working internally on several fronts to bring change.

“We are going to try to change this to a culture of getting to yes, and the Secretary of Agriculture is now talking about using our loan servicing tools sooner rather than later and catching folks before they fall off the cliff.  And really proud to be part of that and look forward to hearing from all of our producers in the countryside as we navigate through these times.”

For example, he pointed out, an FSA loan application is 29 pages.

“The team is working really hard on refining that, streamlining the process so that we can get to more timely decisions for our producers, and 29 pages is just frankly too much for anything. And that's the short end. And it isn't the fault of our county staff, so don't beat them up when you talk about it, they'd rather have it be better too. It's our job as leadership at the national level to do that," Ducheneaux said.  "Our farm loan team has been working on that for years, now we've got the stars aligned to where we're going to get there and start to streamline that and bring it down to around a 12-page application to start with.”

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