Source:
Denver PostBRUSH — Angry farmers and ranchers today demanded help from the federal government after a major agricultural bank collapsed, forcing them to renegotiate millions of dollars of loans in less than a month.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said he freed up $253 million for operating loans that could help farmers searching for credit after federal regulators shut New Frontier Bank in Greeley last month, but he added that it will be up to other local banks to jump in and pick up those loans.
He said banks are still hesitant to provide agricultural loans, despite the federal stimulus program.
"They've got to get back in the game," Vilsack told about 300 people who attended a town hall meeting today at the Morgan County Fairgrounds.
Gary Teague, a 42-year-old rancher who runs a cattle-feeding and heifer-development operation based in Fort Morgan, tearfully told Vilsack that thousands of farmers and ranchers are desperate after the Greeley bank collapsed. He said he runs a $50 million business that employs 155 people, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has given him 30 days to renegotiate his loans, or they will be liquidated.
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