WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley, one of the only working family farmers in the United States Senate, is continuing his work to ensure the farm program returns to its original intent to help small- and medium-sized farms weather the highs and lows of farming that are out of a farmer’s control.
Grassley is introducing the Farm Payment Loophole Elimination Act to close the farm subsidy loophole that was intentionally included in the 2014 farm bill. The current law allows non-farming family members to receive farm subsidies at the expense of young farmers and the American taxpayers.
The original actively engaged language that both bodies of Congress passed as part of the 2014 farm bill would have limited the number of ‘non-farming managers’ to one per entity. However, conferees denied these reforms put forth by Grassley and overwhelmingly approved by both houses of Congress, and instead opted for instructions that restricted the Department’s ability to fix blatant abuses of the farm safety net.
“The final farm bill language on payment limits was an egregious manipulation of my amendment that passed both chambers,” Grassley said. “The loophole the conference committee included in the bill left non-farming family members completely outside the scope of the new actively engaged rules the Department of Agriculture finalized in December.”
The bill strikes language from the 2014 farm bill that allowed for non-farmers, who happen to be family members but aren’t involved in the work or management of the farm or own farm land, to receive farm subsidy payments. If adopted, the change would apply to the 2017 and subsequent crop years.
“The legislation I’ve introduced today will help level the playing field for young farmers and save taxpayers money,” Grassley said. “It’s a real win-win.”
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