Legislation has been introduced in the House to allow farmers and ranchers to be a part of an existing student loan forgiveness program. Chelsey Simpson with the National Young Farmer’s Coalition says one of the barriers for young people starting to farm and ranch is being able to pay back student loans.

Simpson says ag producers deserve to be a part of this federal program. She says the legislation makes sense in that it addresses a rapidly growing problem of an aging farm population.

Simpson says they expect the Young Farmer Success Act of 2015 to be considered as part of the Higher Education Act. She says while it’s currently in the House, it has yet to be introduced in the Senate.