USDA Tightens Farm Program Eligibility Rules
By Agri Pulse
The Agriculture Department is making changes to eligibility rules for commodity programs that could make it more challenging for some family members involved in farm operations to qualify for government payments.
A final rule that the Farm Service Agency will publish in the Federal Register on Monday would make first cousins, nieces and nephews of farm operators eligible to receive payments, a change made by the 2018 farm bill. But the rule would also require anyone trying to qualify for federal subsidies as a farm manager to comply with rules that had applied only to general partners, said Ferd Hoefner, senior strategic adviser for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a group that has long advocated for tightening payment limitations and eligibility rules.