US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan recently announced that a new program under the Conservation title of the 2008 Farm Bill will help beginning and socially disadvantage farmers get access to something every farmer needs--land to farm.According to a USDA news release, the Transition Incentives Program (TIP) encourages farmers, owners, and operators who are retiring to "transition their land to beginning or socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers."
Deputy Secretary Merrigan states in the USDA news release, '"Ensuring that our nation's land is returned to production using sustainable methods is critical not only for our future food supply, but also for the economic future of our rural communities . . . Access to land is one of the greatest challenges faced by new farmers. The Transition Incentives Program is one more tool in the USDA toolkit to protect family farms and support beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers."
Producers can start signing up for the program now, but there are some eligibility requirements. In order to be eligible the retiring farmer or ranchers should 1) have land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in the last year of the contract; 2) "[a]gree to allow the beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher make conservation and land improvements"; and 3) agree to sell, enter into a contract to sell, or form a long-term lease of at least five years for the "land under CRP contract to a beginning or socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher by Oct. 1 of the year the CRP contract expires."
If all these requirements or met, then TIP will provide up to two years worth of annual rental payments to the retiring farmer after the expiration of the CRP contract, but the land can not be transitioned to family member.
The USDA Farm Service Agency defines a socially disadvantaged farmer as a member of a group "whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of his or her identity as a member of the group without regard to his or her individual qualities." According to the Farm Service Agency, groups that are socially disadvantaged are "women, African American, American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders."
To read the USDA news release, click here.
Posted: 05/18/10
