Two farm-state senators want the USDA to explain why it allows crop subsidy payments to the estates of deceased farmers for two years or more. “You aren’t very actively engaged if you are buried,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, citing the USDA rule that people must provide labor or management, as well as land, equipment, or capital, to be “actively engaged in farming” and thus eligible for subsidies.
In a letter to the USDA agency responsible for crop subsidies, Grassley and Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said they want to avoid wasteful payments to family members who intentionally evade payment limits. In a recent notice, the USDA indicated an estate can be eligible for payments for two crop years after the farmer dies, with the possibility for the local county committee to extend eligibility beyond that on a case-by-case basis.
“There may be some circumstances in which it may be reasonable for a deceased farmer’s estate to receive farm program payments,” wrote the senators. “However, these should be limited to the current crop year, after which the payments should be attributed to the heir(s)’ payment limit(s).” Even if an estate remains open for several years, the USDA should attribute any payments to the heirs “to avoid the potential for double-dipping.”
Stabenow and Grassley asked for more detail from the USDA about payments to estates and said the information may be helpful in writing the new farm bill.
For years, Grassley has endeavored to put a “hard” cap of $125,000 per person on annual farm subsidy payments and to limit farms to one person who collects subsidies as a manager. Farmers and their spouses would remain automatically available for subsidies.
The USDA web page on the “actively engaged” rule is available here.