Abstract
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified State Mediation Program has restored failed communications between numerous farmers and lenders and assisted many economically stressed farm families to stay in business. The Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), an agency of the USDA, has certified and provided matching grants to state mediation programs. These state mediation programs are operated primarily by state universities and state departments of agriculture. The USDA mediation programs have allowed farm borrowers and their creditors to work out joint solutions, avoiding human suffering and the costly and time-consuming processes of administrative appeal, foreclosure, and litigation.
I. Introduction
II. History of the USDA Mediation Program
III. How State Agricultural Mediation Works
IV. USDA Lender Objectives in Mediation
V. Non-USDA Lenders in Mediation
VI. Effectiveness of State Agricultural Mediation
VII. Improving Mediation Services to Farmers and Lenders
VIII. Benefits and Costs of State Agricultural Mediation
IX. USDA Certified State Mediation is Consumer Friendly
Recommended Citation
Chester A. Bailey,
The Role of Mediation in the USDA,
73 Neb. L. Rev.
(1994)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol73/iss1/7