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farm and ranch business management programs to aid 

 struggling farmers. Farm record analysis is a vital 

 part of the program. Program participants are asked to 

 maintain up-to-date records of all business transactions 

 and family expenditures so that, at the close of the 

 business year, the records can be analyzed to determine 

 the strengths and weaknesses of the individual farm 

 operation. Individual on-the-farm instruction is 

 included in the program. 



Option #2 



Create a state loan linked deposit program to 

 assist farmers in obtaining short-term credit 

 necessary to finance current operations. 



Explanation 



This option would establish a state emergency farm 

 finance program to make credit available to agricultural 

 borrowers who are unable to obtain conventional farm 

 loans. 



The proposed program would provide $50 million in 

 state investment money to financial lenders at 1% below 

 current market rates for such investments. In return, 

 lenders would utilize the additional capital to make 

 agricultural loans to borrowers at favorable interest 

 rates not more than 2-3 percentage points above the 

 cost of obtaining state investment dollars. 



Under the program, certain restrictions would apply 

 to issuance of linked deposit loans, including these 

 requirements: (1) an applicant for a loan must have a 

 debt-to-asset ratio in excess of 30%; (2) an eligible 



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