GLASGOW — When Nick Jessie and Justin Tudor were in high school they took advantage of the Farm Service Agency’s Youth Loan Program.

They applied for loans to fund the purchase of beef cattle.

Jessie and Tudor were both members of the FFA organization at their school — one of the requirements for obtaining a loan through FSA.

Tudor bought Gelbvieh registered cattle with his loan.

“I was AI [artificially inseminating] breeding them and keeping the bulls back so I would have to buy bulls,” he said. “I got probably five or six bulls out of the registered cattle I bought.”

He chose to buy Gelbvieh cattle because he wanted cattle that featured more muscle, and because they are known for good maternal ability, he said.

Tudor chose to apply for an FSA Youth Loan because it is a low-interest loan.

“It’s a good idea for a kid trying to start out,” he said. “I was already established. My dad took pretty good care of me. If you weren’t already started ..., it would be a good way to go.”

Tudor’s dad raises beef cattle, as does Jessie’s father.

Jessie chose to buy beef cattle with his FSA Youth Loan because he wanted to enlarge his beef cattle herd.

Jessie works for Tudor’s dad on his Summer Shade farm. Both he and Tudor have chosen farming as a career. They grew up on a farm.

“I never thought about doing anything else,” he said. “I just like being outside all the time.”

Farm Service Agency  Youth Loans are available for youth who range in age from 10 to 20 and who are involved in a program such as FFA or 4-H and are involved in a supervised project through one of the organizations.

“Our FFA and 4-H organizations are very helpful in working with us in order to be able to make these loans,” said Helena Pitcock, farm loan officer for the Barren-Metcalfe FSA office. “The youth, they have to have some type of adviser and they have to be in one of those organizations, either 4-H, FFA or a similar organization that relates to agriculture.”

The maximum amount for farm youth loans is $5,000. Youth must have their parents’ permission and their project adviser must sign a document verifying they are a member of FFA or 4-H.

“They are good little loans and they are helpful to kids who don’t have any other way to get started. Some of them will buy show heifers and show them in the fairs. That gives them leadership abilities and also the experience of intermingling with others and learning what’s out there and what may be available for them for college and so forth,” Pitcock said.

Kentucky ranks in the top 10 in several areas, including youth loans, she said.

“We’ve been fortunate in Kentucky to be able to help a lot of youth,” Pitcock said.

Acquiring a Farm Service Agency Youth Loan gives youth a sampling of what it is like to be a farmer, and will help them determine if they want to choose agriculture as a career, she said.

“It also teaches them about keeping records, teaching them about what a financial statement is, cash flow and it kind of helps them learn that money doesn’t come from parents or comes from trees,” Pitcock said. “They learn how to make their own money and to be successful and to budget.”

Several youth who acquire loans through FSA return as adults to borrow money for the purchase of livestock, equipment or even a farm, she said.

“We have several that have had youth loans with us that go into farming and purchase a farm,” Pitcock said.

There are not as many youth choosing farming as a career.

“The average age of the farmer right now I think is like 57 to 58 years old, and we need more beginning farmers,” she said. “We not only have the youth farm loans, but we have other loan programs and we kind of target beginning farmers to try to help them because of the low interest rate and they don’t have to have a down payment to purchase a farm. If the farm is appraised at $200,000, we would loan them $200,000. They don’t have to have a down payment to be able to get it.”

Pitcock said it helps if the borrower has some assets established, such as livestock or farming equipment and that they don’t have a lot of debt.

“If someone comes in wanting to borrow money for the whole thing, buy a farm, buy their livestock, buy their equipment, everything, it’s generally not going to cash flow,” she said. “They do have to have something already established themselves, normally, for it to work; have some assets free of debt to get them started.”  

For more information about FSA Youth Loans, call Barren-Metcalfe County FSA office at 629-2081.