175.36 - ASSISTANCE AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR BEEF CATTLE PRODUCERS.
175.36 ASSISTANCE AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS FOR BEEF
CATTLE PRODUCERS.
1. The authority shall create and develop programs to assist
agricultural producers who have established or intend to establish in
this state, beef cattle production operations, including but not
limited to the following assistance:
a. Insurance or loan guarantee program. An insurance or loan
guarantee program to provide for the insuring or guaranteeing of all
or part of a loan made to an agricultural producer for the
acquisition of beef cattle to establish or expand a feeder cattle
operation.
b. An interest buy-down program.
(1) The authority may contract with a participating lending
institution and a qualified agricultural producer to reduce the
interest rate charged on a loan for the acquisition of beef cattle
breeding stock. The authority shall determine the amount that the
rate is reduced, by considering the lending institution's customary
loan rate for the acquisition of beef cattle breeding stock as
certified to the authority by the lending institution.
(2) As part of the contract, in order to partially reimburse the
lending institution for the reduction of the interest rate on the
loan, the authority may agree to grant the lending institution any
amount foregone by reducing the interest rate on that portion of the
loan which is one hundred thousand dollars or less. However, the
amount reimbursed shall not be more than the lesser of the following:
(a) Three percent per annum of the principal balance of the loan
outstanding at any time for the term of the loan or within one year
from the loan initiation date as defined by rules adopted by the
authority, whichever is less.
(b) Fifty percent of the amount of interest foregone by the
lending institution on the loan.
c. A cost-sharing program. The authority may contract with
an agricultural producer to reimburse the producer for the cost of
converting land planted to row crops to pasture suitable for beef
cattle production. However, the amount reimbursed shall not be more
than twenty-five dollars per acre converted, or fifty percent of the
conversion costs, whichever is less. The contract shall apply to not
more than one hundred fifty acres of row crop land converted to
pasture. The converted land shall be utilized in beef cattle
production for a minimum of five years. The amount to be reimbursed
shall be reduced by the amount that the agricultural producer
receives under any other state or federal program that contributes
toward the cost of converting the same land from row crops to
pasture.
d. A management assistance and training program. The
authority in cooperation with any agency or instrumentality of the
federal government or with any state agency, including any state
university or those associations organized for the purpose of
assisting agricultural producers involved in beef cattle production,
or with any farm management company if such company specializes in
beef cattle production or in assisting beef cattle producers, as
prescribed by rules adopted by the authority, shall establish
programs to train and assist agricultural producers to effectively
manage beef cattle production operations.
2. An agricultural producer shall be eligible to participate in a
program established under this section only if all the following
criteria are satisfied:
a. The agricultural producer is a resident of the state.
b. The agricultural producer has land or other facilities
available to establish a beef cattle production operation as
prescribed by rules of the authority.
c. The agricultural producer is an individual, partnership,
or a family farm corporation, as defined in section 9H.1, subsection
8.
d. The land or other facilities available to establish a beef
cattle production operation are located within the state.
e. The agricultural producer has a net worth of four hundred
thousand dollars or less.
f. The agricultural producer develops a farm unit
conservation plan, as defined in section 161A.42, with the
commissioners of the soil and water conservation district where the
land is located within one year from the date of entering into the
program, unless the authority prescribes a shorter period of time by
rule.
3. The authority shall adopt rules to enforce the provisions of
this section or the terms of a contract to which the authority is a
party. The authority may also enforce the provisions of this section
or terms of the contract by bringing an action in any court of
competent jurisdiction to recover damages. As a condition of
entering into the program, the authority may require that the
agricultural producer consent to the jurisdiction of the courts of
this state to hear any matter arising from the provisions of this
section. Section History: Recent Form
87 Acts, ch 169, § 4; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §263