Minnesota Session Laws - 1987, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1987 

                        RESOLUTION 7-H.F.No. 575 
 A resolution memorializing the President and Congress 
to immediately direct the Farmers Home Administration 
to participate in and cooperate with the Farmer-Lender 
Mediation Program in the State of Minnesota.  
    WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota has established a 
Farmer-Lender Mediation program which is mandatory for private 
lenders in Minnesota who wish to enforce a security agreement 
secured by agricultural property; and 
    WHEREAS, mediation protects the interests of lenders while 
affording farmers an opportunity to contend in a rational manner 
with the catastrophe facing them in the farm economy; and 
    WHEREAS, the primary purpose of the Farmer-Lender Mediation 
Program is to facilitate improved communication between farmers 
and lenders; and 
    WHEREAS, over 5,000 mediation cases have been negotiated 
and settled or are in progress at the time this resolution is 
being considered; and 
    WHEREAS, the Farmer-Lender Mediation Program has proven 
highly successful at bringing farmers and lenders together to 
resolve conflicts in a positive, constructive manner; and 
    WHEREAS, the Farmers Home Administration currently holds 
approximately 10,500 farm accounts in Minnesota; and 
    WHEREAS, about 2,950 of the farm accounts held by Farmers 
Home Administration in Minnesota are in arrears or in default; 
and 
    WHEREAS, the Farmers Home Administration has failed and 
refused to cooperate with the Farmer-Lender Mediation Program in 
the State of Minnesota; NOW, THEREFORE, 
    BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
that the Congress of the United States should immediately enact 
and the President of the United States should approve 
legislation directing the Farmers Home Administration to 
participate in and cooperate with the Farmer-Lender Mediation 
Program in the State of Minnesota. 
    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
State of Minnesota is directed to transmit certified copies of 
this memorial to the President of the United States, the 
President and Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker 
and Chief Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, 
the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry of the United States Senate, the Chairman of the 
Committee on Agriculture of the United States House of 
Representatives, the Minnesota Representatives and Senators in 
Congress, the United States Secretary of Agriculture, the 
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development, and 
the Minnesota State Director for the Farmers Home Administration.
    Filed May 14, 1987