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. 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.
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:
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
87 Acts, ch 169, § 4
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