The Nebraska Investment Finance Authority (NIFA) assists agricultural Nebraska with its Beginning Farmer/Rancher Program, which offers loans for the purchase of agricultural real and personal property. The new farm bill changed some program limits.

Using NIFA’s program the borrower can receive a reduced rate loan for land or permanent agricultural improvements to the land, depreciable property, and used equipment, machinery, or breeding livestock. Recent passage of the federal farm bill included two important changes to the Internal Revenue Code for NIFA’s Beginning Farmer/Rancher Program.

The following changes apply to all NIFA Beginning Farmer/Rancher Program loans:

• The maximum amount (subject to the limitation on depreciable property below) of the NIFA ag loan/bond is increased from $250,000 to $450,000. (A $250,000 limit applies to depreciable property; the used equipment and livestock limitation remains at $62,500.)

• In determining whether an applicant who owns or has owned land qualifies as a “beginning farmer” for NIFA’s program, a limit on the value of previously-owned land no longer applies. The lender need only determine whether the acre size of land owned is smaller than 30 percent of the median size of a farm in which the land is located. These limits are available on NIFA’s website (www.nifa.org).

NIFA will be reviewing their program fees and will publish any changes. For more information, contact Dudley Beyer at dudley.beyer@NIFA.org or 402.434.6931.