,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #iaj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,march #aj1         
#bjbe,mr4 ,welch 7for himself1 ,mr4     
,hoeven1 and ,ms4 ,smith7 introduced the
 following bill2 which was read twice   
and referred to the ,committee on       
,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 and ,forestry 
,a ,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary of
 ,agriculture to establish a pilot      
program to implement a pre-qualification
 or pre-approval process for farmers and
 ranchers with respect to a direct farm 
ownership loan under the ,consolidated  
,farm and ,rural ,development ,act1 and 
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,farm    
,ownership ,improvement ,act4  #b4      
,direct farm ownership loan pilot       
program ,subtitle ,d of the             
,consolidated ,farm and ,rural          
,development ,act is amended by         
inserting after section #cgd 7#g        
,u4,s4,c4 #bjjh;i7 the following3  #cge4
 ,direct farm ownership loan pilot      

program  7a7 ,establishment of pilot    
program ,not later than #b years after  
the date of enactment of the ,farm      
,ownership ,improvement ,act1 the       
,secretary shall establish a #e-year    
pilot program 7referred to in this      
section as the pilot program7 to        
implement a pre-qualification or        
pre-approval process for farmers and    
ranchers with respect to a direct farm  
ownership loan under subtitle ,a4  7b7  
,borrower viability and repayment       
assessment ,in carrying out section     
#cfj7;b7 with respect to a participant  
in the pilot program1 the ,secretary1 as
 the ,secretary determines to be        
appropriate1 may make use of alternative
 methods1 including financial           
benchmarking1 to reliably evaluate the  
financial viability of the participant  
and the likelihood of repayment of the  
applicable loan4  7c7 ,limitation ,this 
section shall not be interpreted to     
repeal any borrowing requirement imposed
 under subtitle ,a4  7d7 ,outreach      

priority ,in conducting outreach        
relating to the pilot program1 the      
,secretary shall prioritize outreach to 
organizations that have demonstrated    
engagement with beginning farmers or    
ranchers4  7e7 ,evaluation and reports  
,the ,secretary shall-- 7#a7 evaluate   
the pilot program on an ongoing basis2  
and  7#b7 annually submit to the        
,committee on ,agriculture1 ,nutrition1 
and ,forestry of the ,senate and the    
,committee on ,agriculture of the ,house
 of ,representatives a written report   
that includes-- 7,a7 a description of   
the performance outcomes of the pilot   
program1 including stakeholder and      
participant evaluations1 assessments1   
and participation demographics1 that    
includes the information described in   
section #edac7;b77#a77;,a77iv7 of the   
,agriculture ,improvement ,act of #bjah 
7#g ,u4,s4,c4 #bjjhx7b77#a77;,a77iv772  
and  7,b7 a recommendation as to the    
value of the pilot program1 including   
whether to authorize a permanent program

 modeled on the pilot program4  4