To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Stop Abuse of the Farm Program by Industrial-Scale Farms to Save Family Farms
Industrial-scale farms are organized in complex ways to multiply the number of partners fraudulently claiming they are "actively engaged in managing" farms (as "farmers") to enable each of them to get government payments totaling hundreds of thousands per farm. These abuses of the farm safety net by industrial-scale "farmers" give them government-subsidized competitive advantages over family farms and are consequently destroying family farms and rural communities depending on them. Stop these abuses and save family farms by limiting the number of people eligible to receive farm program payments to no more than two persons per farm
Why is this important?
Industrial-scale farms are purposely organized with large numbers of partners fraudulently claiming they are “actively managing” such farms so each partner gets government checks to enable their operations to maximize government payments in the hundreds of thousands per farm.
This situation gives industrial-scale farms government-subsidized competitive advantages over family farms by enabling them to buy inputs at bulk discounts family-scale farms can never get. Essentially, the Farm Program is driving family farms out of business and causing rural poverty. Taxpayers do not want to subsidize destruction of our cherished American tradition of family farms and rural communities.
U.S. Department of Agriculture proposes to "reform" the program by limiting the number of people eligible for payments per farm to eight, with a limit of $125,000 per person... for a total of one million per farm! USDA's final decision will be made soon; so we need to get our elected officials to tell USDA to allow no more than two persons per farm to collect payments now. To be delivered to legislators and President Obama on December 15th.
This situation gives industrial-scale farms government-subsidized competitive advantages over family farms by enabling them to buy inputs at bulk discounts family-scale farms can never get. Essentially, the Farm Program is driving family farms out of business and causing rural poverty. Taxpayers do not want to subsidize destruction of our cherished American tradition of family farms and rural communities.
U.S. Department of Agriculture proposes to "reform" the program by limiting the number of people eligible for payments per farm to eight, with a limit of $125,000 per person... for a total of one million per farm! USDA's final decision will be made soon; so we need to get our elected officials to tell USDA to allow no more than two persons per farm to collect payments now. To be delivered to legislators and President Obama on December 15th.