Paul Perl and his son Lee milk 550 cows and crop 1,200 acres in Sheldon, New York. Farm Credit loan officer Meghan Rodwell provides the Perl’s with credit to operate their business. Lee’s wife Amy shared Perl Farms’ experience with Financial Partner magazine:

“We needed to invest in housing for a full-time dairy employee. When I heard about a NYS zero-interest loan program for dairy farmworker housing, I went online to learn more about it. Farm Credit was the approved lender so I called Meghan, with whom we already worked with

Early on, we had a few town zoning issues to work through on our own. Meghan shared the requirements for the zero-interest loan with us. She was prepared and guided us through the details, such as department of health and state historic site regulations. It surprised us how quickly the the process went.

The dairy farmworker housing loan allowed us to improve employee housing and save money for the farm business. We are very pleased.”

Ten-year zero-interest loans up to $100,000 are available for the improvement or construction of farmworker housing. Learn more about the NYS Dairy Farmworker Housing program online at http://www.dhcr.state.ny.us/ocd/progs/fwh/ocdprgfw.htm or call your local Farm Credit office.