Say goodbye to a certain kind of extended family. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wants to close loopholes in the farm bill to stop lining the pockets of remote landowners and guarantee that working farmers and their immediate families get the government subsidies they are eligible to receive.
Grassley, in a speech Monday at The Heritage Foundation, said he will introduce an amendment to deny taxpayers’ money to off-site landowners who are actually what one supporter calls “FaceTime farmers.”
“One of the most egregious loopholes that we need to fix deals with what it means to be ‘actively engaged in a farming operation,’” Grassley said during the Heritage event, which also featured a panel of experts.
“Under the current law,” the senator said, “a designation called ‘Active Personal Management Only’ allows people who do not work on farms to get farm subsidies of $125,000, or $250,000 for a married couple.”
Grassley’s amendment would tighten restrictions on who receives farm subsidies, boiling down eligibility to only farmers and their immediate families who live and work on the farm.
The Iowa Republican’s proposed amendment aims to close loopholes that analysts say have given 10 percent of American farmers over 70 percent of the subsidies.
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