The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted a one-time, 30-day extension to the farm structure status deadline. This allow farms additional time to meet the new regulations outlined in the farm bill.
Texas Farm Bureau (TFB), along with 67 other farm groups, signed onto a letter requesting an extension.
“This extension will give our members additional time during the busy planting season to ensure their operation complies with the updated definitions of active farm management,” said Brant Wilbourn, TFB Commodity and Regulatory Activities associate director.
Farming operations will now have until July 1 to complete their restructuring or finalize any operational change.
The 2014 Farm Bill provided Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack with the direction and authority to amend the Actively Engaged in Farming rules related to management. The final rule established limits on the number of individuals who can quality as actively engaged using only management.
Only one payment limit for management is allowed under the rule, with the ability to request up to two additional qualifying managers operations for large and complex operations.
The rule does not apply to farming operations comprised entirely of family members. The rule also does not change the existing regulations related to contributions of land, capital, equipment or labor, or the existing regulations related to landowners with a risk in the crop or to spouses. Producers who planted fall crops have until the 2017 crop year to comply with the new rules. The payment limit associated with Farm Service Agency farm payments is generally limited annually to $125,000 per individual or entity.
“We appreciate Secretary Vilsack’s responsiveness to this request. During a period when our farmers are under increasing levels of stress due to lower crop prices and a farm economy that continues to be sluggish, this decision is welcome. But the deadline is barely more than a month away, so farmers who need to make a status change in farm structure with FSA offices need to move forward with a sense of urgency,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement.