2024 Fall Farm Outlook Lincoln Daily News Oct 2024 Page 19 first and easiest way to go about getting that money would be through a loan. There are many lending institutions, such as banks or credit unions, that cater to farmers specifically. Websites such as Rural 1st can help you find such a lending institution. When using the website to search Logan County’s area code, three locations for Farm Lending Illinois come up, one in Taylorville, one in Decatur, and the closest one being in Sherman. You can also secure a loan from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA website states that farmers can get a loan of up to $600,000, while farmers just starting out can get a loan of up to $300,150. These loans, like bank loans, do not have set interest rates, and the current interest rates are posted on the first of each month. The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) also provides loans and grants to people who are or are looking to become farmers. To see more about the IDA’s options for grants and loans, see their website. How does a farmer keep his or her farm from going into bankruptcy? This is a very important question, especially if the farm is worth millions of dollars. BTC (Bethany Trust Company) Bank is an agricultural bank out of Missouri, their website has seven tips for farmers to become better at financial management for their farms. One of the most important things they suggest is to “be meticulous with your bookkeeping.” BTC states that when a farmer keeps track of their finances throughout the year, it will better prepare them to correct their farm’s finances when an issue arrives. “Meticulous bookkeeping,” says BTC’s article, “will help you catch increasing expenses or diminishing profits faster so that you can take corrective action.” Another suggestion BTC’s article makes is to have a farmer keep their personal and business finances separate. The way they suggest doing this is by opening a business checking account. They state that you will not “muddle your home and ranch finances.” An additional benefit to this is being able to give others access to your business account, such as employees. “Having a business checking account,” says the BTC article, “allows business partners or trusted employees to access the account in order to pay bills or collect payments.” The BTC article also states that debt management is very important, giving many ways in which a farmer can do this. They state that a farmer should take a look at their debts Continued --
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