FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Samantha Cave
Communications Coordinator, NFFC
samantha@nffc.net
603-333-6281
Beth Hauptle
Director of Communications, RAFI
beth@rafiusa.org
919-903-2525
More Than 100 Food and Farm Organizations Demand Fair Credit for Farmers
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 8, 2026) — Yesterday, the National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC), the North Carolina-based farm advocacy organization RAFI, and over 100 organizations sent a letter to Congress urging reforms to agricultural credit and oversight at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The letter demands passage of the Fair Credit for Farmers Act of 2026 (S.3126/H.R. 6169), introduced last year by Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) and Representative Alma Adams (D-NC), as the Senate Agriculture Committee gears up to deliberate on “Farm Bill 2.0,” or the Agricultural Act of 2026.
“With U.S. farm debt reaching historic levels—expected to climb over $620 billion this year, steady declines in the number of farms, and an upward trend in bankruptcies in recent years, it is critical that the that credit provided by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is supporting farmers’ economic resilience,” the letter says.
“As the 2026 House Farm Bill draft contained few credit provisions to the benefit of these producers, we believe Congress must take even bolder action to ensure basic borrower protections for farmers, and to make FSA loans fairer, more accessible, and less risky,” the letter continues.
The letter outlines the measures that the Fair Credit for Farmers Act would take to protect farmers’ homes, improve credit access and terms, strengthen farmer-borrower rights, and give economically distressed farmers needed relief through a two-year, low-interest payment deferral.
“We call on Congress to work collaboratively to advance these goals by strengthening agricultural lending through the Fair Credit for Farmers Act and ensure its inclusion in the next Farm Bill or farm relief package,” the letter concludes.
Read the letter and review its signatories here.
The Fair Credit for Farmers Act is cosponsored by Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), Representative Jennifer McClellan (D-VA), and Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA).
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Since 1986, National Family Farm Coalition has been mobilizing family farmers and ranchers to achieve fair prices, vibrant communities, and healthy foods free of corporate domination. Today, NFFC includes 30 member groups representing family farmers, ranchers, fisherfolk, and rural advocates across the United States.
Since RAFI’s founding in 1990, RAFI has recognized that our food system is deeply inequitable, where rural communities — their land, animals, and people — are exploited to benefit corporate power structures. Working across agricultural sectors and collaboratively through coalitions, RAFI combines on-the-ground practical services and policy advocacy to ensure farmers have access to the tools they need to make the right choices for their farms and families, as well as for their communities and the environment.