Oklahoma Farmers, Ranchers Eligible To Receive Federal Loan, Debt Relief

Oklahoma farmers and ranchers can now get a helping hand from Capital Hill.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing more than $1 billion of debt relief to struggling Oklahoma farmers and ranchers. The money is part of Congress' COVID-19 relief package.

"It just so happens that Oklahoma is a food belt and so you have over a quarter of the socially disadvantage farmers and producers here in Oklahoma," said USDA Director Heather Thompson.

Thompson oversees the USDA's Office of Tribal Relations. She says the relief plan will help pay 120% of farm loan balances as of January 1st.

"You can imagine the impact is going to have on their family; they're able to reinvest even more and to production and to food enter ranching in Oklahoma," Thompson added. 

Thompson visited the Cherokee Nation's new meat processing plant.

She says the plant shows how tribes can be important partners in agriculture.

"This is not only implementations of tribal sovereignty but food sovereignty," Thompson exclaimed. 

"One of the things that cattle producers have struggled with is 'where can I get their cattle processed?' Sometimes the wait times are long," Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. told News On 6.

He says many struggling farmers are Cherokee Citizens.

He says this loan relief will help long-term.

"But, it's really sparking a lot of conversation about what more we can do at the Cherokee nation. If you look or we can do elsewhere in agriculture, but this started as a catalyst for what we can do in the future," Hoskin added. 

The loans will be available sometime in June. you can apply for the loan HERE.