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| | Pryor opposes changes to "family farm" definition
Thursday, Jun 17, 2004 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., is organizing opposition to a proposal that changes the definition of a "family farm" and could make it harder for some producers to qualify for federal loans. Pryor charges the change would limit farmers applying for aid from the Farm Service Agency. "It sets a dangerous precedent for the future of other farm programs," Pryor said in a letter he and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., circulated among senators on Wednesday. The letter, which the senators intended to send to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, took aim at a department proposal unveiled in February seeking to streamline the Farm Service Agency's direct loan programs. The proposed regulation would define a "family farm" as having less than $750,000 in annual sales in a "typical year ," or ranking among the bottom 95 percentile of farms in the state with sales exceeding $10,000. The senators said the definition "would effectively punish successful family farmers for their success." Further, the proposed rule omits a definition of a "typical year." "We would point out that few regions of the country have experienced a 'typical year' by any definition in recent years," Pryor and Domenici wrote. The proposal also states that only a loan borrower and those related "by blood or marriage" must make the daily operational and management decisions and must perform a substantial part of the labor on the farm. The proposed change "restricts and penalizes members of extended families who are part of their family farm or who would otherwise become part of their family farm," the senators said. Stanley Reed, president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said the proposal would hurt the state's farmers. "We think that eligibility for USDA programs should not be determined by means testing, but should be available to all producers regardless of the size of their operation," Reed said. If implemented, the change would exclude many of the state's commercial-size operators from eligibility for the USDA's operating loans, he said. "This is an attempt to achieve some social agenda rather than to truly benefit production agriculture," he said. The proposal came in response to complaints the definition was too vague, said James Radintz, director of the Farm Service Agency's loan making division. "We are trying to make things more straightforward for the public to understand the requirements," he said. Radintz said the senators' concerns were echoed in the 500 submissions the agency received during a comment period that closed on May 4. The agency is in the process of formulating a final rule, whose release is "at least a few months away," he said. About 30,000 farmers apply each year for direct loans or loan guarantees, Radintz said. The agency provides between $800 million to $900 million annually in direct loans and about $2.5 billion in loan guarantees, he said. The change "might shift the beneficiaries to some extent," he said. "But we wouldn't anticipate a substantial reduction in the amount of assistance we provide." Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, plans to sign the protest letter, spokesman Greg Willis said. -- 30 -- |
