A USDA loan guarantee for meat processors, and dearer SBA surety bonds

On October 27, 2026 USDA opened its Strengthening Processing for US Ranchers (SPUR) Guaranteed Loan Program. It guarantees loans from banks and other lenders to businesses that start, reopen, retrofit, expand or improve a meat, poultry or seafood processing plant. It runs under the same rules as USDA's Business and Industry loan guarantees, but with no rural test: the plant can be in a city. USDA is making at least $5 billion of loans available from fiscal year 2027, and takes applications until the money runs out. For fiscal year 2027 it guarantees 90% of each loan, the lender keeps at least 10%, and the fees match the Business and Industry program's: 3% of the guaranteed amount, and a yearly fee of 0.55%.

For a processor, a 90% guarantee can make a lender more willing to lend for a plant or its equipment. You apply through the lender, which applies to USDA. The USDA Business and Industry loan guarantees page now describes SPUR.

Under its Surety Bond Guarantee Program, the SBA guarantees bid, payment and performance bonds for small contractors who cannot get bonded through the usual channels. For guarantees approved on or after November 30, 2026 under its Prior Approval program, the contractor's fee on each bond (other than a bid bond) rises from $6.00 to $7.29 per $1,000 of the contract amount, and the surety company's fee from 20% to 26% of the bond premium. These are the fees the SBA charged before it cut them in 2018; it says the Prior Approval program has run at a deficit since. Projects in manufacturing (NAICS sectors 31 to 33) keep the lower fees, and so does the Preferred Surety Bond program.

On a $1 million contract, the contractor's fee goes from $6,000 to $7,290, on top of the bond's premium. The federal contract financing page explains how a contractor can be paid while the work is under way.

The law keeps the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) running "until the close of business on December 31, 2026". On November 1, S. 3772, which would extend it, was still with the Senate Banking Committee, with no action since February 4, 2026.

If the charter lapses, EXIM can manage the deals it already has but cannot take on new ones, such as working capital loan guarantees and export credit insurance.