The Program

Because of the popularity of the Treasury's Small Business Linked Deposit program, a separate program for agriculture was established in 1985 with a two-year sunset provision. Its purpose was to provide reduced-rate financing to Ohio farmers to help offset the high cost of borrowing operating funds.  Positive response to the initiative prompted the General Assembly to pass legislation in 1987 making the Agricultural Linked Deposit Program a permanent Treasury initiative.  Demand for the program outpaced available funding and the General Assembly increased the program allocation from $100 to $125 million in 2002.  This increase represents the first increase in Ag-Link funding since the programs' inception.  With the new increase in funding, $125 million from the state's investment portfolio is set aside for Ag-Link each year.  The Treasury uses these funds to secure reduced-rate certificates of deposit from eligible lending institutions, which utilize those dollars to provide operating loans to farmers at below-market rates.  More than 28,000 Ag-Link applications have been approved, totaling $1.9 billion, since 1985.

Additional Ag-Link dollars have been set aside to aid farmers in response to natural emergencies. In the drought year of 1989, the legislature set aside $10 million from unclaimed funds to assist farmers.  In 1997 and 1998, an additional $9.7 and $11.5 million were allocated from Treasury funds to help farmers in flood-stricken areas of the state.  A farmer must document that the benefits of the program will materially contribute to the farm's ability to meet planting deadlines.  Requests for operating costs, such as seed, feed, fertilizer, and fuel, will receive a priority.