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Farm banks distributed nearly $35 billion in PPP loans
The director of economic and policy research with the American Bankers Association says farm banks have distributed nearly $36 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program.
Tyler Mondres tells Brownfield institutions handed out 817,000 loans, which accounts for 7 percent of all loans in the program. “The numbers are very encouraging. The average farm PPP loan was $43,000 so you’re talking about pretty small producers that were able to use that funding to manage their needs.”
Mondres says money from both rounds of PPP helped support nearly 15 million jobs. The cash value of the loans accounted for 4.4 percent of all money distributed through the PPP.
He says farm bank participation through the program helps boost rural economies. “Farm banks and community banks in general are really important to those rural communities that may not have as easy access to all of the other services out there. They play a critical role in making sure credit flows and they’re kind of the lifeblood of rural communities across America,” he says.
The figures were published in ABA’s yearly Farm Bank Performance report.
