USDA Announces September 2025 Lending Rates for Agricultural Producers

Sep 04, 2025

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced loan interest rates for September 2025, which are effective Sept. 1, 2025. USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) loans provide important access to capital to help agricultural producers start or expand their farming operation, purchase equipment and storage structures or meet cash flow needs.

Operating, Ownership and Emergency Loans
FSA offers farm operating, ownership and emergency loans with favorable interest rates and terms to help eligible agricultural producers obtain financing needed to start, expand or maintain a family agricultural operation.

Interest rates for Operating and Ownership loans for September 2025 are as follows:      

Farm Operating Loans (Direct): 4.875%
Farm Ownership Loans (Direct): 5.875%
Farm Ownership Loans (Direct, Joint Financing): 3.875%
Farm Ownership Loans (Down Payment): 1.875%
Emergency Loan (Amount of Actual Loss): 3.750%

FSA also offers guaranteed loans through commercial lenders at rates set by those lenders. To access an interactive online, step-by-step guide through the farm loan process, visit the Loan Assistance Toolon farmers.gov.       

Commodity and Storage Facility Loans     
Additionally, FSA provides low-interest financing to producers to build or upgrade on-farm storage facilities and purchase handling equipment and loans that provide interim financing to help producers meet cash flow needs without having to sell their commodities when market prices are low.  Funds for these loans are provided through the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and are administered by FSA.

Source : usda.gov

Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.