Tag: MARBIDCO

MARBIDCO Pandemic Adjustment Loan Fund Program Now Open

Annapolis (April 8, 2020)….The Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO) has established the Pandemic Adjustment Loan Fund Program to help Maryland’s food and fiber producers, harvesters and primary processors adjust to the business disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program offers low cost loans with flexible terms for working capital or equipment purchases. The maximum individual loan amount is $10,000, and no collateral security is required to be pledged to receive a loan.

“Many Maryland farmers and other rural businesses are rapidly altering their operations to adjust to changing market conditions in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and some are pivoting to serve new customers and markets almost on the fly,” said Steve McHenry, MARBIDCO’s Executive Director. “This new loan program is designed to get money very quickly into the hands of rural business owners for the purchase of materials and equipment via an easy-to-complete application process.” MARBIDCO has available $1.2 million to lend through this program.

Applicants for this program must currently be operating their qualifying business enterprises in a substantial manner (e.g., as farmers, loggers, seafood harvesters, or as primary food/fiber processors). Spin-off activities of the existing main business enterprise are eligible and encouraged, but purely start-up enterprises are not eligible. Eligible farms and rural businesses can apply for loans up to $3,000 in working capital and up to $10,000 for equipment purchases at a low interest rate with flexible terms. Loan repayments will be made interest-only for five months beginning in August, followed by amortizing payments for 12 to 36 months with a fixed rate of 3.75% starting next year. Borrowers who make all their payments will receive a 10% grant back (of the original amount borrowed) at the end of the loan term.

Working capital includes (but is not limited to): planting materials such as seeds, fertilizers and plastic covers, hand tools, advertising and marketing expenses, and hired labor. Tangible equipment includes equipment with 7 years or more usual lifespan such as: motorized equipment, vehicles, commercial kitchen facilities, engine replacement, refrigeration units, etc.

To further assist Maryland’s farm and rural businesses during this time, MARBIDCO is also reducing the interest rates on its core loan programs by 100 basis points for borrowers that may be looking for more traditional term loan financing. These programs include: Maryland Resource-Based Industry Financing Fund, Maryland Vineyard/Hopyard/Orchard Planting Loan Fund, Rural Business Equipment and Working Capital Loan Fund, and Forestry Equipment and Working Capital Loan Fund. ​​Additional information on these programs is also available on our website.

Applications for the Pandemic Adjustment Loan Fund must be submitted by May 31st.  The application form is available on the MARBIDCO website at www.marbidco.org. For questions, please call the MARBIDCO office at (410) 267-6807. Due to current social distancing procedures, phone calls may not be readily answered (but all calls will be returned).

Contact: Steve McHenry
410-267-6807
smchenry@marbidco.org

MARBIDCO Next Generation Farmland Acquisition Program Open

The Next Gen Program is essentially a fast-moving farmland conservation easement option purchase program that is designed to help facilitate the transfer of farmland to a new generation of farmers, while also effectively helping to preserve the subject agricultural land from future development.

Under the Next Gen Program, MARBIDCO will pay up to 51% of the Fair Market Value (FMV) of the land only (with a cap of $500,000). Following the land sale transaction, the Next Gen Farmer will then have a period of several years to sell the permanent easement to a rural land preservation program that is able and willing to hold the permanent easement (thus extinguishing the development rights on the property forever). Once a permanent easement has been subsequently facilitated, the Next Gen Farmer is obligated to repay MARBIDCO the original Next Gen Program Option Purchase amount, plus a 3% administrative fee. If the Next Gen Farmer cannot sell the permanent easement within the specified timeframe, the Option will be exercised (for no additional money) and the permanent easement will be held by a “third-party default easement holder” (either a county agricultural land program or a private land trust designated by MARBIDCO).

While there is no age restriction to participate in the program, persons who are “beginner farmers” will have a greater likelihood of being selected to participate. A “beginner farmer” is defined as not owning a farm or ranch (or owning less than 10 acres), not operating a farm or ranch as a principal operator for more than 10 years, having at least one year of farming experience, and expecting to substantially participate in the farming operation on the subject property.

People interested in applying to the Next Gen Program are requested to make contact with their county farmland preservation program office (in the county in which the farmland is located) by no later than a month before submission, to discuss the suitability of a subject farm being permanently preserved. Moreover, certain required paperwork prepared by farm property sellers must be received in the county office by no later than a month in advance.

The Next Gen Program application deadline (including submission of all required forms and related attachments) is now on a monthly basis, with applications due on the last business day of each month by no later than 4:00 p.m., at the MARBIDCO office in Annapolis. Late applications will not be accepted.

For more information, visit marbidco.org, or call (410) 267-6807.

 

Maryland Value Added Producer Grants (MVAPG) for Capital Equipment Now Available from MARBIDCO

The Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO) has announced a grant incentive funding opportunity to encourage Maryland’s agricultural producers to expand or diversify their business operations by installing capital assets (equipment and fixtures) to make a product that is “value added.” Eligible applicants must be a crop or livestock producer or processor, agricultural cooperative, seafood processor, or primary or secondary timber products processor, and have been in business for a minimum of two years.

MARBIDCO will offer incentive grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000, distributed on a competitive basis, for capital projects that help farmers, forest product operations, and seafood processors expand or diversify their business operations through value added activities. The financial match required from the rural business must be at least equal to the amount requested from MARBIDCO.

The application deadline is Thursday, September 26, 2019, at 4 p.m. Applications received in the mail with a Saturday, September 21, 2019 postmark will also be accepted. Grant award announcements should be made by mid November 2019.

For more information about the MVAPG–CAO Program, contact Daniel Sweeney, MARBIDCO’s Financial Programs Associate, at (410) 267-6807 or visit MARBIDCO’s website at www.marbidco.org.

Maryland’s Next Generation Farmland Acquisition Program Now Open

Annapolis (September 5, 2018) — The Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO) announced today that the Next Generation Farmland Acquisition Program (“Next Gen Program”) will reopen  for a second round this fall to help qualified young and beginning farmers who seek to purchase farmland, but need some specialized financial assistance to enter (or continue in) the agricultural profession in exchange for helping to preserve the farmland.

The Next Gen Program is a relatively fast-moving farmland conservation easement option purchase program that is designed to help facilitate the transfer of farmland to a new generation of farmers, while also effectively helping to preserve the subject agricultural land from future development. The selection for participation in this program is expected to be competitive.

“We are very appreciative of the support that we have received from the Hogan Administration and the Maryland General Assembly for this innovative dual-purpose program,” said Steve McHenry, MARBIDCO’s Executive Director. The State Government appropriated $2.5 million for the Next Gen Program in FY 2019, matching a similar amount of funding that was provided in FY 2018. MARBIDCO also appreciates the great support it has received from a number of county land preservation offices as well as local land trusts. During the first year, the Next Gen Program was able to assist six farm purchases, with the secondary objective to help permanently preserve nearly 800 acres of agricultural land on farm properties located in Frederick, Prince George’s, Talbot and Washington Counties.

Through the Next Gen Program, MARBIDCO pays up to 51% of the Fair Market Value (FMV) of the land only (with a cap of $500,000). The Next Gen Program funds are provided as a down-payment at the real estate settlement and MARBIRDO takes a contractual option on the farmland preservation easement purchase. This is designed to help enable a commercial lender to also make a loan to help with the purchase of the farm.

The Next Gen Farmer will then have a period of several years to sell the permanent easement to a rural land preservation program that is able to hold the permanent conservation easement (thus extinguishing the development rights on the property forever). Once a permanent easement sale has been facilitated, the Next Gen Farmer will repay MARBIDCO the original Next Gen Program option amount, plus a 3% administrative fee, using the money from the permanent easement sale. If the Next Gen Farmer cannot sell the permanent easement within the specified timeframe, the Next Gen option will be exercised (for no additional money) and a permanent easement on the property will be held by a “third-party default easement holder” (either a county agricultural land program or a private land trust designated by MARBIDCO).

While there is no age restriction to participate in the program, persons who are “beginner farmers” will have a greater likelihood of being selected to participate. The Next Gen Program defines a “beginner farmer” as those not owning a farm or ranch (or owning less than 10 acres currently), not operating a farm or ranch as a principal operator for more than 10 years and have at least one year of farming experience. The beginner farmer must also plan to participate actively in the farming operation.

Persons interested in applying to the Next Gen Program are requested to make contact with their respective county agricultural land preservation staff (in the county in which the farmland is located) by no later than Friday, October 19, 2018, to discuss the suitability of a subject farm being permanently preserved.

The formal Next Gen Program application submission deadline (including all required application forms and related attachments) is Tuesday, November 20, 2018; by no later than 4:00 p.m., at the MARBIDCO offices in Annapolis. Late applications will not be accepted.

Applicants selected for the Next Gen Program will be notified by early-January, with the actual real estate settlements expected to occur once land appraisals been conducted and other transactional closing work has been completed (sometime during the winter and spring of 2019).

Further information about the Next Gen Program may be obtained by contacting Allison Roe, Financial Programs Associate, at (410) 267-6807, or by visiting MARBIDCO’s website at: www.marbidco.org.

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MARBIDCO was established by the Maryland General Assembly more than a decade ago to help enhance the sustainability and profitability of the State’s agricultural and resource-based industries in order to help bolster rural economies, support locally-produced food and fiber products, and preserve working farm and forest land. MARBIDCO is a nimble, quasi-public financial intermediary organization which has a mission to serve exclusively the commercial farming, forestry and seafood industries of Maryland. Young and beginning farmers are a special focus for MARBIDCO, as is farm operation diversification. In delivering its financing programs, MARBIDCO works cooperatively with commercial banks and Farm Credit Associations, as well as, a host of federal, State, regional and local government agencies and universities. Since 2007, MARBIDCO has approved  475 financings totaling nearly $51 million for food and fiber business projects located in of all Maryland’s counties – and in the process has leveraged more than $145 million in commercial lender financing. For more information about MARBIDCO’s programs, please visit: www.marbidco.org.