Farm Service Agency outlines Vermont loan caseload, disaster and dairy support

Alana Walden, deputy state executive director and acting state executive director of the Farm Service Agency of Vermont, told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Jan. 30 that the agency provides price-support, conservation and disaster programs as well as direct and guaranteed lending to Vermont producers.

Walden said the agency operates nine county offices that serve all 14 Vermont counties from the state office in Colchester and currently has 41 permanent employees. She said Vermont’s FSA also has oversight of certain lending activity in Maine.

Walden outlined recent payments and loan caseloads. She said a specialty-crop marketing-assistance program that included maple producers had recently finished accepting applications and she expected payments “in the neighborhood of about $1,380,000” across the state. She said the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program paid about $28,400,000 in 2023 and about $800,000 in 2024. She said Emergency Conservation Program payments related to recent flooding and storms were about $4,100,000 in 2024 and about $1,800,000 in 2023. Walden reported Vermont’s current direct loan caseload at about $47,500,000 with 302 unique borrowers and the guaranteed loan caseload at about $17,900,000 with 215 unique borrowers. She said the agency’s programs to Vermont producers in 2024 totaled about $3,900,000.

Committee members asked about the federal farm bill schedule, how state-level dairy premium reimbursements interacted with federal programs, and recent changes to pandemic-era loan relief. A committee member said the state used funds to reimburse dairy farmers for premiums to participate in federal margin programs; Walden confirmed that states have used such reimbursements to help producers obtain coverage. On loan relief, Walden said a program tied to the Inflation Reduction Act that had paid off certain loans for socially disadvantaged producers ended and that payments to borrowers would resume after a deferral period ended on Feb. 20 (as she described it).

Walden also described administrative details of loan delinquency and foreclosure processes, saying the agency begins with acceleration and demand letters before pursuing foreclosure where due process is required. She said farmers have been conservative about taking new loans in recent years because of economic uncertainty and inflation, and she warned the committee to expect delinquency rates to rise as pandemic-era relief programs have ended.

Walden encouraged committee members to ask for additional program information and offered to provide details about other FSA programs on request. The committee recessed after the presentation.