The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced a proposed rule to limit farm payments to non-farmers, consistent with requirements Congress mandated in the 2014 Farm Bill.
The current definition of “actively engaged” was established in 1987. That broad definition allows individuals with little or no contributions to critical farm management decisions to receive payments if they are classified as managers. But the proposed rule limits farm payments to those individuals not actively engaged.
Family farms will not be impacted by the proposed rule. And no change will be made to existing rules for contributions to land, capital, equipment or labor.
More information on the proposed rule can be found here.