USDA’s Farmers Home Administration is one of the Federal Government's chief sources of credit to rural areas. Initially serving only ¡ow-income farmers, the agency's clientele expanded during the 1960's and 1970's to include nonfarm rural residents and their communities. During the lean farm years of the 1980's, the pendulum swung back to farmer assistance. Nonfarm programs for rural housing, community facilities, and rural businesses were pared back. By 1988, when the farm sector had recovered from the hard times earlier in the decade, spending levels for farm programs were also down from earlier highs
