In accordance with the 2008 Farm Bill, interest rates for Farm Storage Facility Loans approved for August 2011 are as follows: 2.250 percent with seven-year loan terms, down from 2.375 in July 2011; 3.000 percent with 10-year loan terms, unchanged from 3.000 in July 2011 and; 3.375 percent with 12-year loan terms, up from 3.250 percent in July 2011. The interest rate for Sugar Storage Facility Loans for August 2011 is 3.625 percent, unchanged from 3.625 in July 2011.
The maximum discount rate applicable for August 2011 for the Tobacco Transition Payment Program is 5 percent, unchanged from July 2011. This is based on the 3.250 percent prime rate plus 2 percent, rounded to the nearest whole number.
Past monthly releases announcing interest rates charged by CCC on commodity and marketing assistance loans disbursed for that particular month reflect the interest rate the U.S. Treasury charged CCC for that month. This was the interest rate specified by CCC since Jan. 1, 1982, but the process of establishing the interest rate was changed by a provision of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (the Act), enacted on April 4, 1996.
Section 163 of the Act requires that monthly interest rates applicable to commodity and marketing assistance loans are to be 100 basis points — or 1 percent — greater than the rate determined under the applicable interest rate formula in effect on Oct. 1, 1995. This formula resulted in a rate equivalent to the amount the U.S. Treasury charged CCC for borrowing, for the month.
Further program information is available from USDA Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Financial Management Division at (703) 305-1386.
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