Arkansas Delegation Requests Loan Repayment Extension for Farmers Impacted by Turner Grain
Washington, DC,
January 29, 2015
The Arkansas Congressional delegation today requested Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack extend the loan repayment date for farmers impacted by the collapse of Turner Grain until bankruptcy proceedings are completed. Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) extended loan repayment dates for farmers impacted by the collapse of Turner Grain last fall. The repayment extension is set to expire for farmers during the week of February 1, 2015. “Given that losses may be as high as $50 million, the situation has the potential to be devastating to Arkansas, where one out of every six jobs is tied to agriculture. For these reasons, we respectfully request that the Farm Service Agency (FSA) extend the CCC loan repayment date for those farmers awaiting payment from Turner Grain until bankruptcy proceedings are completed,” the lawmakers wrote. Turner Grain defaulted on its contracts to farmers last August. In October, the company filed for bankruptcy. Read the letter in its entirety here. About Congressman French Hill French Hill, 58, is the 22nd Member of Congress to represent central Arkansas in the U.S. House of Representatives. A ninth generation Arkansan, he was elected on November 4, 2014, and will serve on the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services for the 114th Congress. Prior to his Congressional service, Mr. Hill was actively engaged in the Arkansas business community for two decades as a commercial banker and investment manager, and was founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Delta Trust & Banking Corp in Little Rock. Prior to his community banking work in Arkansas, Mr. Hill served as a senior official in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. Prior to his Executive Branch Service, from 1982-84, Mr. Hill served on the staff of then-U.S. Senator John Tower (R-TX) as well as on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs. Mr. Hill is a magna cum laude graduate in Economics from Vanderbilt University. He is married to the former Martha McKenzie of Dallas, Texas, and they have a daughter, Sarah Elizabeth McKenzie Hill, and a son, William Payne Hill. The Hill family resides in Little Rock. |
