FEDS TO PUSH COLLECTION ON LATE FMHA LOANS.(Business)

Byline: Tom Precious Business writer

Talk about post-election blues.

Some 1,700 New York farmers delinquent on their federal Farmers Home Administration loan repayments will soon be getting "past due" notices from Uncle Sam.

The "Dear Farmer Jones" notices are part of a stepped-up national campaign to collect about $8.8 billion in delinquent loans, an estimated $128 million of which are owed by New York farmers.

The FmHA loans, given to those farmers unable to qualify for a bank loan, are used to finance equipment purchases, operate a farm, or cope with a farm disaster, such as a crop loss. The average loan amount is about $35,000, said …