Lakewood, Colo.-U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has authorized the transfer of unused Farm Service Agency subsidized operating loan funds to the agency’s direct operating loan program to assist farmers in the Greeley area who are in a bind paying for inputs for spring plantings and other expenses with the state-ordered closure of New Frontier Bank. Vilsack’s actions will provide an additional $110 million of direct operating loan funds and $143 million of unsubsidized guaranteed operating loan funds. “It is some money we didn’t have before,” Gary Wall, acting state FSA executive director, told Green Markets. “But it is available to New Frontier customers until it’s gone. We’ve offered to make these a priority to get them processed as soon as possible.” The Colorado state bank commissioner closed New Frontier Bank, which specialized in agricultural lending, on April 10 for more than four months after the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission issued the bank a cease and desist order for “unsafe” and “unsound” banking practices.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain