Farm Program Integrity Act

What it does

If Congress passes it, this bill would rein in abuse of the farm payment system and ensure taxpayer support is targeted to those actively engaged in farming. Specifically, the bill would:

• Create a hard cap of $250,000 in total commodity support for any one farm operation;
• Require beneficiaries spend at least 50%of the year engaged in farm labor or management.

Currently, just 10%of farm operations receive 70% of farm payment subsidies. Today, the federal farm payment system provides mega farms with excessive government subsidies which can then be used to outbid everyone else, especially cash-strapped beginning farmers, to buy or rent farmland as it comes on the market. Over time, this reduces economic opportunity in farming, stratifies wealth, makes it even harder for new farmers to get started and harms rural economies and the vitality of rural communities. Read a summary of the Farm Program Integrity Act, which aims to level the playing field for farmers.

Who supports this bill?

The Farm Program Integrity Act is a bipartisan bill, which means it has some support among both Republicans and Democrats. Senators Chuck Grassley and Sherrod Brown introduced the bill. In the Senate, this bill is referred to as S. 2610, and these Senators are already supporting the bill.

This bill is endorsed by National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Environmental Working Group, among other groups.

Want to support this bill?

You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected with your elected officials. An operator will ask for your address and then forward your call to friendly staff who work for the people elected to represent you. As a constituent in their district, your voice matters!

If your Senators and House Representative aren’t already on the list of cosponsors who support the bill:

• Ask your two Senators to “cosponsor the Farm Program Integrity Act, S. 2610.”
• Ask your House Representative to “support a companion bill to the Farm Program Integrity Act, S. 2610.”

If your elected officials are already supporting the Farm Program Integrity Act, you can always contact them to thank them and help spread the word among your networks.

Resources

If you’d like to learn more about the Farm Program Integrity Act, you can:

• Find detailed instructions for calling or writing your Senators (tip: enter your address)
• Track the bill’s progress on Congress.gov or GovTrack
• Learn why lawmakers support this bill (Senator Chuck Grassley’s press release)
• Read the full bill text

See more bills worthy of your support in the 2023 Farm Bill.