Excerpt from the report Introduction: Through the years, the Federal Government has provided farmers with several credit programs. Since 1946, direct farm credit activities of the Government have been conducted by the Farmers Home Administration (FHA). During the more than 30 years that the FHA and its predecessor agencies have been in operation, various modifications have broadened the scope of these programs. Originally, loans were made to farmers conducting adequate family farming operations. After several years, this program was broadened to include farmers conducting less than adequate family farming operations. A more recent addition has been the provision of loans to low-income farm families for agricultural and nonagricultural purposes to generate at least a modest increase in their level of living. Other credit programs have also been added to provide assistance to rural people and communities.