Note: Since this video was published, the 2018 Farm Bill increased FSA ownership loan maximums from $300,000 to $600,000.

Yes! If you hover your cursor over any technical term, a definition appears.

For more detail, we created a companion financial glossary which defines all of the terms used in the Calculator and more. Find it here.

The small screens on mobile devices make it difficult for us to display the Calculator’s scenario builder. We encourage you to use the Calculator on a desktop or laptop computer to build your scenarios.

Select the menu titled ‘Switch scenarios’ in the top-right corner. To create a new scenario, select ‘+New scenario’. You can create up to three scenarios at once, and switch between them using the same dropdown menu.

To easily distinguish between different scenarios, don’t forget to name each scenario in the header.

Remember: to save your results from multiple scenarios, you must click the Download button for each scenario.

Unfortunately, no. The Finding Farmland Calculator was designed not to save any financial data entered by its users. We are only interested in your answers to our feedback questions and, if you choose to sign up for dota2(江苏)决赛下载v1.6版 updates and action, your contact information.

We suggest using the pdf download tool to save your own data, if you want to use the Calculator without opening up your books again.

Good question! The only way to know for sure is to ask a lender. Other farmers in your area might have a good idea too, though you should also ask who they’re borrowing from.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) publishes a “prime rate” from a survey of large US banks. Find it here (look at the chart titled “Prime rates”). The WSJ prime rate is a decent approximation of the interest rate a lender would give its prime customers (i.e. those with very good credit). You can use the WSJ prime rate to approximate what a lender would offer you, or at least to see the lowest/best rate you could expect. Many lenders base their rates on the WSJ prime rate.

The FSA loan rates preloaded into the Calculator are correct as of January 1, 2020.

You can find the current rates on the FSA loan programs homepage .

If the current FSA rates differ from those preloaded into the Calculator, unfortunately there is no way for you to change them at this time. We are working to incorporate this feature into a future version of the Calculator. In this situation, we suggest a work-around solution: create a bank loan at the correct rate and terms of an FSA loan and your estimates will be correct.

Easement values rely on many variables. Ultimately, it’s decided by an appraisal. In cases where there is high commercial or residential development pressure, it could be as high as 70% of the property value. The best way to determine this number is to talk with a local land trust or public agency that purchases easements.

Read A Farmer’s Guide to Working with Land Trusts to learn more.

Good catch! Yes, when you enter an easement, the Calculator assumes that you want to apply the income from selling that easement towards your loan. In reality, your unique financing scenario and business needs would determine how the income from an easement sale would be used.

For instance, if FSA is your lender, they will require you to maintain a specific loan-to-value ratio after the easement sale. Since selling an easement would cause the property value to decrease, you might have to immediately pay down the principal on your FSA loan to satisfy that loan-to-value ratio.

In many cases, you could use the income from an easement sale for whatever you want. Farmers may prefer to use easement income for infrastructure improvements because those types of loans tend to be harder to qualify for than mortgages.

Since our Calculator is designed to help farmers understand the decisions around buying land, we feel safe in assuming our users are seeking conservation easements to reduce the cost of financing a land purchase. If you are not seeking an easement for this reason, do not add one to your scenario.

It is important to include these costs in your scenario, as they are significant upfront and ongoing costs associated with buying and owning property. Usually your realtor or lender can shed some light on one or both of these figures.

Closing costs are a combination of many different fees that you will usually be charged at closing, the day you buy the property. They include, but are not limited to, legal fees, appraisal fees, origination fees (charged by your lender), and various recording and inspection fees. Some of these fees depend on the size of your loan; others will be similar for any farmland purchase. Your lender must estimate closing costs in order to offer you a loan, so your loan officer is the best person to ask. For a rough estimate, use anywhere from 2-5% of the property price.

Property taxes vary widely across the country. Some counties/states have websites where you can look them up. If you are working with a realtor, they will be able to tell you more about local property taxes.

Sure, think of us as the internet’s finest mortgage calculator. If you are only interested in knowing the monthly and total payments for your buying scenario, then just complete the Financing section. You can still download your results.

It depends how you want to use the Calculator. The Calculator uses your income data to generate the debt-to-income ratio. So, if you want to know whether you can finance a property purchase with your farm income alone, do not enter income from other sources; if you are comfortable using your off-farm job to subsidize your farm purchase, then enter off-farm income too.

Remember, no matter whether you enter farm or off-farm income, it should be gross income. See our Farm Finances Glossary for further explanation on gross vs. net income.

Note: A loan officer will want to know about all of your income sources before making a loan determination.

These thresholds are only broad guidelines, based on guidance from agricultural lenders. Your unique, real-life financing scenario may differ; all lenders have somewhat different risk profiles and eligibility criteria. For example, FSA’s beginning farmer loans have friendlier eligibility standards than normal FSA loans, which themselves have friendlier eligibility standards than conventional bank loans. The only way to know for sure what a lender expects is to speak with one of their loan officers.

A single financial ratio will never accurately describe you or your business, and lenders will look at more than just these ratios. We include these ratios in the Calculator because they are common tools used by lenders to consider whether you qualify for a loan.

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