USDA implements several loan and grant programs to support rural businesses. Of these, the Business and Industry (B&I) Guaranteed Loan Program is the largest, with a program level of $892 million (the total value of all loans given under the program) in 2017. By reducing lenders’ risk, the B& I program encourages them to provide more generous terms or larger principal amounts, or to approve loans to rural businesses that they otherwise would not make. ERS researchers found that receiving a B&I loan reduced the risk of business failure, although this effect dropped with time.