Farmers Home Administration

Farmers Home Administration (FHA), former agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administered credit services for family ownership and operation of farms and for housing in rural areas. The Farmers Home Administration was established in 1946 to administer programs started by the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration during the 1930s. The Congress of the United States abolished the Farmers Home Administration in 1994 and transferred many of the agency’s responsibilities to other agencies within the Department of Agriculture.

The Farmers Home Administration provided housing loans to residents of rural areas who were unable to secure affordable credit from other lenders. The agency also gave loans to individual and cooperative groups of low-income persons to help them increase their income while providing services to rural towns. The Farmers Home Administration granted loans to Native American tribes to help them acquire reservation lands. The administration also disbursed emergency loans for flood and drought relief. The agency maintained about 1,900 county and district loan offices throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, and the former Pacific Trust Territories.

In 1991 a new agency, the Rural Development Administration, was created to manage business and community loans formerly administered by the Farmers Home Administration. After Congress abolished the administration in 1994, loan programs for rural housing were transferred to the Rural Economic Community Development Service. Farm credit programs formerly managed by the Farmers Home Administration were transferred to the newly created Consolidated Farm Services Agency.