One loan of up to $50,000
FSA microloan calculator
A USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Microloan is a Direct Operating loan or a Direct Farm Ownership loan of $50,000 or less. This calculator shows the equal annual payment, the total interest and the full year-by-year schedule for the loan amount, rate and term that you enter. Operating microloans use the regular Direct Operating rate, with a 5% cap for Beginning and Veteran farmers. Ownership microloans use the regular Direct Farm Ownership rate. Operating microloans pay for annual or term operating expenses, such as seed, livestock, equipment and family living expenses. Ownership microloans pay for Farm Ownership purposes, such as buying or enlarging a farm, building or improving farm buildings, closing costs and soil and water conservation.
Price your microloan
The calculator opens with an editable sample so you can see it work. The figures aren't market assumptions or recommendations. Replace them with your plans and the rates that FSA publishes.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is submitted or stored.
Payment, interest, schedule
Your microloan breakdown
Equal annual installment schedule
| Year | Payment | Principal | Interest | Balance |
|---|
Deterministic worked example
Follow the loan from amount to payment
The loan amount is a hypothetical figure that makes the arithmetic easy to follow. It isn't a typical loan amount, and the page doesn't recommend it. The rate is the published USDA program rate. The editable sample above uses the same numbers with the published Direct Operating rate of 5.375%.
At the 5% Beginning/Veteran cap, the same $25,000.00 over 7 years costs $4,320.50 per year.
Why this page exists
The program rules, applied to your numbers
A microloan is a Direct Operating loan or a Direct Farm Ownership loan of $50,000 or less, with a simplified application. The paperwork is shorter, but the payment arithmetic is the same as any amortized loan. This page prices the loan: payment, interest and schedule.
This page does not decide eligibility and does not restate the eligibility requirements. Ask your local FSA office before you plan with these figures.
What a microloan is
7 CFR 761.2 defines a Microloan as "a type of OL or FO of $50,000 or less made using a reduced loan application." The FSA Microloans fact sheet (October 2024) says that applicants may apply for microloans "totaling a combined maximum of $100,000: Up to $50,000 for a farm ownership loan and up to $50,000 for an operating loan." This total is FSA guidance, the sum of the two $50,000 limits. It is not a separate cap in the regulation. The calculator prices one loan at a time.
Operating microloan rates
7 CFR 764.254(a)(1) and (a)(4): the operating microloan rate is the Direct Operating rate; for a Beginning or Veteran farmer it is the lower of that rate or 5 percent. The calculator applies the cap when you check the Beginning or Veteran box. The published Direct Operating rate of 5.375% is effective October 1, 2026.
Operating microloan terms
7 CFR 764.254(b)(2): the term is "equal to the useful life of the security or 7 years, whichever is less" and "In no event will the term of the loan exceed 7 years from the date of the note." For a loan for annual operating expenses, 764.254(b)(1)(i) says the term "may not exceed 24 months from the date of the note", with exceptions up to 7 years. The FSA Operating Microloan page says "Repayment terms are flexible, ranging from one to seven years". FSA sets the actual term. The calculator accepts 1 to 7 years.
Ownership microloan terms: the sources disagree
7 CFR 764.154(b)(1) (eCFR, version of 2026-10-15): the term of an FO is "the useful life of the security or 40 years, whichever is less" and "In no event will the term be more than 40 years from the date of the note." The FSA Ownership Microloan page (read 2026-10-19) says "Repayment terms are flexible, typically up to 25 years". The FSA Microloans fact sheet (October 2024) says the term "will not exceed 25 years"; the current regulation allows up to 40 years. The 25 years in the program materials is guidance, not a legal limit, and FSA does not say that it offers a 40-year Microloan. Enter the term that FSA offered you. The schedule is an estimate; FSA sets the actual term and schedule. See the FSA Ownership Microloan page.
Ownership microloan rates
Ownership microloans use the Direct Farm Ownership rate. 7 CFR 764.154(a)(4): "The interest rate charged will be the lower of the rate in effect at the time of loan approval or loan closing." 7 CFR 764.154 has no Beginning or Veteran cap for FO loans. The published Direct Farm Ownership rate of 6.250% is effective October 1, 2026.
Payment arithmetic
The loan uses the standard annuity formula payment = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n) with annual periods. At a rate of 0% the payment is P ÷ n. Full precision is kept during the calculation and money is shown to the cent. The last installment clears any rounding residue at full precision, so a column of rounded rows can differ from the totals by a few cents.
Where the numbers come from
The program rules come from 7 CFR 764.254 (Operating loan rates and terms, including the microloan rate), 7 CFR 764.154 (Farm Ownership loan rates and terms) and 7 CFR 761.2 (the microloan definition) in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. The text is the eCFR version of 2026-10-15, read on 2026-10-19.
The Direct Operating rate in the form (5.375%) and the Direct Farm Ownership rate (6.250%) are the USDA program rates effective October 1, 2026, from USDA FSA's October 2026 lending rates announcement. FSA lists the rates that are in effect now on its current loan interest rates page. When FSA publishes new rates, enter them in the form. These are dated program rates of USDA, not market rates and not quotes.
7 CFR 761.8 limits the outstanding principal balance of direct loans of an applicant. A microloan of $50,000 is far below the direct limits, but the microloan is part of your total FSA borrowing. No FSA rule sets monthly or annual installments for Microloans in general. The calculator does not ask for your other FSA loans, so it does not test those limits. Ask FSA how they apply to you.
The U.S. Prime Rate is 7.00% per annum in the Federal Reserve H.15 release as of 2026-10-13. Prime gives context, but the calculator doesn't use it. FSA microloan rates are USDA program rates that FSA sets and publishes.
And check the parts no calculator can settle. Ask the FSA office about eligibility, the combined microloan limit and the term that your loan would get, then replace the sample with those figures. To price a larger farm purchase, use the FSA down payment loan calculator.