(a) The Board of Agriculture and Conservation shall administer the agricultural revolving loan fund. A loan may not be made without the approval of a majority of the board, except that emergency loans based upon regulations adopted by the board and not to exceed $50,000 may be made upon the approval, by majority vote, of a committee composed of the chair of the board, another board member, and the director of the board.

(b) The board is composed of seven members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature in joint session. Members shall have the following qualifications:

(1) one member shall have general business or financial experience;

(2) one member shall be a member of a statewide agriculture promotion organization;

(3) one member shall be a member of a soil and water conservation district established under AS 41.10.130(a) who is also engaged in commercial production agriculture;

(4) four members shall be engaged in commercial production agriculture; each shall represent a different agriculture enterprise from the others, such as livestock production, dairy, vegetable production, grain production, horticultural production, and greenhouse and hydroponic production.

(c) A meeting of the board to act on applications for loans is exempt from the public meeting requirements of AS 44.62.310.

(d) [Repealed, § 30 ch 81 SLA 2000.]

(e) To encourage the prompt payment of loans, the board may establish a program of credits for persons who have a loan from the agricultural revolving loan fund and maintain good financial standing. The credits may be applied against no more than two percentage points a year of the interest due on agricultural revolving loan fund loans.

(f) A credit may not be granted under (e) of this section to reduce interest due on a loan if the borrower has an agricultural loan in default, has a loan that has been rewritten, restructured, rolled over, or otherwise had its term extended or interest rate reduced, or has had a land payment or land clearing loan restructured.

(g) The board may dispose of property acquired by the agricultural revolving loan fund through foreclosure, default, or other action arising out of agricultural loans or the sale of agricultural land. Disposals shall be conducted under regulations approved by the commissioner. The regulations must ensure that the property is disposed of so as to maximize the return to the state and must require that the parcels of land that are composed primarily of cropland soils be restricted to agricultural uses and disposed of only to persons who are residents of the state.