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      "title": "U.S. Farm Program Eligibility and Payment Limits Under the 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334)",
      "summary": "Under the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334; 2018 farm bill), U.S. farm program participants\u2014whether individuals or multiperson legal entities\u2014must meet specific eligibility requirements to receive benefits under certain farm programs. Some requirements are common across most programs, while others are specific to individual programs. In addition, program participants are subject to annual payment limits that vary across different combinations of farm programs. Federal farm support programs and risk management programs, along with their current eligibility requirements and payment limits, are listed in Table 1. Terms for most of these programs are applicable for the 2019-2023 crop years.\nSince 1970, Congress has used various policies to address the issue of who should be eligible for farm payments and how much an individual recipient should be permitted to receive in a single year. In recent years, congressional policy has focused on tracking payments through multiperson entities to individual recipients (referred to as direct attribution), ensuring that payments go to persons or entities actively engaged in farming, capping the amount of payments that a qualifying recipient may receive in any one year, and excluding farmers or farming entities with large average incomes from payment eligibility.\nCurrent eligibility requirements that affect multiple programs include identification of every participating person or legal entity\u2014both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens\u2014the nature and extent of an individual\u2019s participation (i.e., actively engaged in farming criteria), including ownership interests in multiperson entities and personal time commitments (whether as labor or management) and means testing (persons with combined farm and nonfarm adjusted gross income in excess of $900,000 are ineligible for most program benefits); and conservation compliance requirements. However, under the FY2019 Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act (P.L. 116-20), the AGI requirement as it applies to payments under the Market Facilitation Program may be waived if at least 75% of AGI is from farming, ranching, or forestry-related activities.\nIn general, if foreign persons or legal entities meet a program\u2019s eligibility requirements, then they are eligible to participate. One exception is the four permanent disaster assistance programs created under the 2014 farm bill (P.L. 113-79) and the noninsured crop disaster assistance program (NAP) in which nonresident aliens are excluded. \nCurrent law requires direct attribution through four levels of ownership in multiperson legal entities. Current payment limits include a cumulative limit of $125,000 for all covered commodities under the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Revenue Coverage (ARC) support programs, with the exception of peanuts, which has its own $125,000 limit. Only one permanent disaster assistance program\u2014the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP)\u2014is subject to a payment limit ($125,000 per crop year). NAP is also subject to a $125,000 per crop year limit per person for catastrophic coverage.\nSupporters of payment limits contend that large payments facilitate consolidation of farms into larger units, raise the price of land, and put smaller family-sized farming operations and beginning farmers at a disadvantage. In addition, they argue that large payments undermine public support for farm subsidies and are costly. Critics of payment limits counter that all farms need support, especially when market prices decline, and that larger farms should not be penalized for the economies of size and efficiencies they have achieved. Further, critics argue that farm payments help U.S. agriculture compete in global markets and that income testing is at odds with federal farm policies directed toward improving U.S. agriculture and its competitiveness. \nCongress may continue to address these issues, as well as related questions, such as: How does the current policy design of payment limits relate to their distributional impact on crops, regions, and farm size? Is there an optimal aggregation of payment limits across commodities or programs? Do unlimited benefits under the marketing assistance loan program reduce the effectiveness of overall payment limits?",
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      "title": "U.S. Farm Program Eligibility and Payment Limits Under the 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334)",
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      "id": 595459,
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      "title": "U.S. Farm Program Eligibility and Payment Limits Under the 2018 Farm Bill (P.L. 115-334)",
      "summary": "Under the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-334; 2018 farm bill), U.S. farm program participants\u2014whether individuals or multiperson legal entities\u2014must meet specific eligibility requirements to receive benefits under certain farm programs. Some requirements are common across most programs, while others are specific to individual programs. In addition, program participants are subject to annual payment limits that vary across different combinations of farm programs. Federal farm support programs and risk management programs, along with their current eligibility requirements and payment limits, are listed in Table 1. Terms for most of these programs are applicable for the 2019-2023 crop years.\nSince 1970, Congress has used various policies to address the issue of who should be eligible for farm payments and how much an individual recipient should be permitted to receive in a single year. In recent years, congressional policy has focused on tracking payments through multiperson entities to individual recipients (referred to as direct attribution), ensuring that payments go to persons or entities actively engaged in farming, capping the amount of payments that a qualifying recipient may receive in any one year, and excluding farmers or farming entities with large average incomes from payment eligibility.\nCurrent eligibility requirements that affect multiple programs include identification of every participating person or legal entity\u2014both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens\u2014the nature and extent of an individual\u2019s participation (i.e., actively engaged in farming criteria), including ownership interests in multiperson entities and personal time commitments (whether as labor or management) and means testing (persons with combined farm and nonfarm adjusted gross income in excess of $900,000 are ineligible for most program benefits); and conservation compliance requirements.\nIn general, if foreign persons or legal entities meet a program\u2019s eligibility requirements, then they are eligible to participate. One exception is the four permanent disaster assistance programs created under the 2014 farm bill (P.L. 113-79) and the noninsured crop disaster assistance program (NAP) in which nonresident aliens are excluded. \nCurrent law requires direct attribution through four levels of ownership in multiperson legal entities. Current payment limits include a cumulative limit of $125,000 for all covered commodities under the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) and Agricultural Revenue Coverage (ARC) support programs, with the exception of peanuts, which has its own $125,000 limit. Only one permanent disaster assistance program\u2014the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP)\u2014is subject to a payment limit ($125,000 per crop year). NAP is also subject to a $125,000 per crop year limit per person for catastrophic coverage.\nSupporters of payment limits contend that large payments facilitate consolidation of farms into larger units, raise the price of land, and put smaller family-sized farming operations and beginning farmers at a disadvantage. In addition, they argue that large payments undermine public support for farm subsidies and are costly. Critics of payment limits counter that all farms need support, especially when market prices decline, and that larger farms should not be penalized for the economies of size and efficiencies they have achieved. Further, critics argue that farm payments help U.S. agriculture compete in global markets and that income testing is at odds with federal farm policies directed toward improving U.S. agriculture and its competitiveness. \nCongress may continue to address these issues, as well as related questions, such as: How does the current policy design of payment limits relate to their distributional impact on crops, regions, and farm size? Is there an optimal aggregation of payment limits across commodities or programs? Do unlimited benefits under the marketing assistance loan program reduce the effectiveness of overall payment limits?",
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