The bipartisan Access to Credit for our Rural Economy Act, or ACRE, Act would provide much-needed help to rural communities at a time when the U.S. agriculture economy is struggling, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols wrote in an op-ed for Agri Pulse.
The ACRE Act would expand access to affordable real estate credit in rural areas. The legislation was created to help lower the cost of credit for farmers, ranchers and homebuyers in rural communities without creating new government payments or programs, Nichols wrote.
“Specifically, ACRE exempts interest income from federal taxation on loans secured by agricultural real estate and rural homes in communities with under 2,500 residents — delivering meaningful relief to 30 million Americans and lowering the cost for U.S. producers to finance farmland by 1 to 1.5%,” he wrote. “For a grower purchasing farmland at $10,000 per acre, that amounts to savings of about $100 to $150 per acre — which can be the difference between being profitable or not.”
ACRE’s lead sponsors Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Angus King (I-Maine), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Reps. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Don Davis (D-N.C.) and Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas).
