Sándor Fazekas held discussions in Washington with the Chairman and CEO of the federal Farm Credit Administration on federal-based agricultural loans, then with the leaders of the two largest American farmers' organisations on the role of representative bodies and the more important elements of the planned Farm Bill.

At the meeting, Leland Storm, President of the Farm Credit Association (FCA), which provides agricultural loans on a federal basis, said that at present the state fund provides loans to close to half a million farmers through 84 so-called farm loan associations and with the involvement of five commercial banks. In addition to short-term (3-8 year) and long-term (5-40 year) loans, they also provide loans for the purchase of machinery and equipment, and of land, as well as other, relatively large investments. The several decades of American farm loan experience may also be useful for Hungarian agriculture, and so a group of experts from the agency will be travelling to Hungary in the near future. As a point of interest, Mr. Storm mentioned that a large American delegation was sent to Europe in 1912 to study agricultural loan practices. The report included more than 50 pages on their experiences in Hungary, so efficient was the loan system they discovered here.

Sándor Fazekas also held talks with the leaders of the Farm Bureau, representative body for large farms, and of the Farmer's Union, which represents smaller farms. One of the most important activities of these lobby organisations is to represent the rights and interests of agricultural producers in the Congress debate on the planned new agricultural legislation, the Farm Bill.

Their varied activities include helping young farmers, organising funding to improve the standard of living in rural areas and, among other thing, to provide professional advice on how to get loans.

Following the meeting, Sándor Fazekas made a speech at a ceremony at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, where 12 people officially took on Hungarian citizenship.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)