Colorado
Springs, CO (Feb. 21, 2002)- The National Livestock Producers Association (NLPA) Sheep &
Goat Fund established loans with 11 sheep and/or goat businesses,
for a total of more than $5 million in loans to help strengthen
the sheep and goat industries. The NLPA Sheep & Goat Fund
still has almost $9 million dollars available for loans at a current
interest rate of 5 percent.
The NLPA
Sheep & Goat Fund approved its first loan in September 2000;
the loan was established with a company in Michigan to construct
a state-of-the-art lamb finishing facility for the year-round
feeding of lambs to service the needs of a major packer's customer
demands for premium high-volume cuts and to smooth out kill floor
schedules.
Since
September 2000, the NLPA Sheep & Goat Fund has written loans
for 10 additional projects including:
"We
are pleased with the 11 projects that have been funded so far
and the committee has several other loans that are close to completion,"
Pierce Miller, Chairman of the National Sheep Industry Improvement
Center (Sheep Center) and member of the NLPA Sheep & Goat
Fund Committee, said. "However, a lot of money is still available
for loans, so I hope that members of the Sheep and Goat industries
will recognize that the NLPA Sheep & Goat Fund, with a 5 percent
interest rate, is an extremely competitive lending option."
In 1999,
an agreement was signed between the Sheep Center and NLPA that
enables the Sheep Center funds to be used in the sheep and goat
industries. The agreement allows NLPA to establish a revolving
fund that will be used exclusively for loans to the sheep and
goat industries with the following goals:
o To make capital available for enhancing production methods and
services.
o To improve marketing efficiency and product quality.
o To promote coordination and cooperation within the industry.
o To create opportunities for adding value to sheep and goat products.
"We
would like to emphasize the scope of projects the Sheep and Goat
Fund Committee is willing to consider for use of the Fund,"
Scott Stuart, President and CEO of NLPA, said, "Production
loans are outside of the scope of this project, but there is no
bias toward sheep or goats, meat, fiber or dairy - the Committee
will consider any project that encourages innovation and efficiency
in the sheep and goat industries."
According
to the terms of the agreement, the Sheep and Goat Fund Committee,
which consists of members of NLPA and representatives of the sheep
and goat industries, is responsible for the oversight of this
process. The Committee regularly reviews applications and is only
allowed to consider loans up to $1 million that are submitted
by eligible entities (sole proprietors are not eligible as written
into the legislation that established the Sheep Center).
For more
information or an application please contact the National Livestock
Producers Association at (800) 237-7193, ext. 10. More information and
the application are also available at www.nlpa.org.
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The
National Livestock Producers Association, founded in 1921, is
an organization of
livestock marketing cooperatives and credit
corporations representing more than 240,000 livestock producers
nationwide and in Canada.
