The USDA is tightening its crop subsidy rules by limiting who can collect payments for managing a farm. As mandated by the 2018 Farm Bill rule, the USDA is expanding the definition of “family member” to include first cousin, niece, and nephew.
The rule published by the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation and Farm Service Agency defines a significant contribution as individuals who perform activities on a “regular, continuous and substantial basis” that are either 25 percent of total management hours needed each year, or at least 500 hours annually.
Additionally, the rules change the addition of 20 percent or more “land used for agricultural production will be recognized as a substantive change in the farming operation and will take into consideration land used for annual crop production as well as grazing lands.” The change “is appropriate as substantive change rules apply to all programs subject to payment limitation, including the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.”
