Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 92 Part 1.djvu/474

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PUBLIC LAW 95-000—MMMM. DD, 1978

92 STAT. 420

PUBLIC LAW 9 5 - 3 3 4 — A U G. 4, 1978

Public Law 95-334 95th Congress An Act Aug. 4, 197o [H.R. 11504]

Agricultural Credit Act of 1978. 7 USC 1921 note.

rpQ amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, provide an eco• nomic emergency loan program for farmers and ranchers, extend the Emergency Livestock Credit Act of 1974, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Agricultural Credit Act of 1978". TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSOLIDATED FARM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT ACT ELIGIBILITY FOR FARM OWNERSHIP AND OTHER LOANS UNDER SUBTITLE A

7 USC 1922.

SEC. 101. Section 302 of the Consolidated F a r m and R u r a l Development Act is amended to read as follows: " SEC. 302. The Secretary is authorized to make and insure loans under this subtitle to farmers and ranchers in the United States, and to farm cooperatives and private domestic corporations and partnerships that are controlled by farmers and ranchers and engaged primarily and directly in farming or ranching in the United States, subject to the conditions specified in this section. To be eligible for such loans, applicants who are individuals, or, in the case of cooperatives, corporations, and partnerships, members, stockholders, or partners, as applicable, holding a majority interest in such entity, must (1) be citizens of the United States, (2) have either t r a i n i n g or farming experience that the Secretary determines is sufficient to assure reasonable prospects of success in the proposed farming operations, (3) be or will become owner-operators of not larger than family farms (or in the case of cooperatives, corporations, and partnerships in which a majority interest is held by members, stockholders, or partners, as applicable, who are related by blood or marriage, as defined by the Secretary, such individuals must be or will become either owners or operators of not larger than a family farm and at least one such individual must be or will become an operator of not larger than a family f a r m), and (4) be unable to obtain sufficient credit elsewhere to finance their actual needs at reasonable rates and terms, taking into consideration prevailing private and cooperative rates and terms in the community in or near which the applicant resides for loans for similar purposes and periods of time. I n addition to the foregoing requirements of this section, in the case of cooperatives, corporations, and partnerships, the family farm requirement of clause (3) of the preceding sentence shall apply as well to the farm or farms in which the entity has an ownership and operator interest and the requirement of clause (4) of the preceding sentence shall apply as well to the entity.".