In the United States, 80 percent of banks have agriculture in their portfolio. And these banks are hoping to get a bill through Congress to give them some tax relief in order to lower costs for their rural customers.

Ed Elfmann, senior vice president of agriculture and rural banking policy for the American Bankers Association, says the “ACRE Act” would help lower lending costs for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities. It would do this by removing the taxation on income that’s earned from interest on agricultural real-estate loans, and for loans for rural residences in a population area of less than 2,500 people with a mortgage value of less than $750,000. 

By removing this taxation, Elfmann says, banks would be able to lower their interest rates -- which would then help lower costs for borrowers.