|
 On
February 9, 2004, the Farm Service Agency (FSA) proposed to reform regulations
governing the direct farm loan program. These reforms would better define family
farmers who are eligible for preferential credit and loan programs and streamline
the implementation of the direct lending program, thereby making it easier for
family farmers to participate.
View
Regulation in HTML Format | View
Regulation in PDF Format  Policy
adopted at the 137th Annual Convention of the National Grange, held last November
in Burlington VT states that "One of the goals of the National Grange related
to federal farm policy must be to encourage increased participation in agriculture
by the largest number of individuals and families through the broadest practical
distribution of agricultural production." The Grange delegates also stated that
"the National Grange believes that a family farm is a business or enterprise involved
in the production of food, fiber and related products or services that is owned
and operated by the members of a family who make management and financial decisions
and supply at least part of the labor." The Grange delegates also advised that
"the primary function of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) should be a lender of last
resort for farmers unable to acquire needed capital from conventional lending
sources. Caution must be exercised to avoid granting undue advantage to large
operations at the expense of family-sized farming units." Therefore, the National
Grange supports the following definition of a family farm proposed by the FSA,
which closely follows adopted Grange policy. The
FSA's proposed rule defines a family farm as a farm that: | | (1) | Produces
agricultural commodities for sale in sufficient quantities so that it is recognized
as a farm rather than a rural residence, and in a typical year generates net cash
income that improves the family's standard of living; | | (2)
| Generates or
will generate in a typical year annual gross farm income which does not exceed
the greater of $750,000 or 95 percent of the statistical distribution of the income
of farms in the State with gross sales in excess of $10,000 based on the farm
data and survey of farm economic factors most recently published by the National
Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, or any successor agency; | |
(3) | Has both
physical labor and management provided as follows: -
The majority of day-to-day, operational decisions, and all strategic management
decisions are made by:
- The
borrower and persons related to the borrower by blood or marriage, for an individual
borrower; or
-
The members responsible for operating the farm, in the case of an entity.
- A
substantial amount of labor to operate the farm is provided by:
- The
borrower and persons related to the borrower by blood or marriage, for an individual
borrower; or
-
The members responsible for operating the farm, in the case of an entity.
| | (4) | May
use full-time hired labor in amounts only to supplement family labor. | | (5) | May
use reasonable amounts of temporary labor for seasonal peak workload periods or
intermittently for labor intensive activities. |
PLEASE
TRY TO FILE YOUR COMMENTS NO LATER THAN APRIL 9, 2004 TO
SUPPORT THIS PROPOSED
RULE! Address
comments on, and alternatives to, the proposed rule to: Deputy
Administrator for Farm Loan Programs
USDA/FSA/DAFLP/STOP 0520
1400
Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, DC 20250-0520 For
further information contact: William
D. Cobb
USDA/FSA/DAFLP/STOP 0520
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Washington,
DC 20250-0520
Phone: (202) 720-1059
E-mail: bill_cobb@wdc.usda.gov.
| Sample
Comment: |
To
Whom It May Concern:
I
am writing to support the FSA's proposed rule to reform regulations related to
the direct farm loan programs and the definition of eligible family farms. The
proposed rule has a clear definition of a family farm to help guarantee that small
family farms remain eligible for the FSA direct lending programs. The proposed
reforms will further assist family farmers by significantly streamlining program
implementation.
Thank you for your support for family farms for the direct farm loan programs.
Sincerely, (Signature)
(Name)__________________________ (Grange/Grange
name and number) __________________________ |
|
If
you have any questions or comments please contact Legislative Research Analyst
Chil-Sook Hwang by fax: 202-347-1091
or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext 109. Thank
you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative program.
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Grange? For all subscription and circulation inquiries, Contact: Jonathan
Hill. |
