FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mike Lavender

National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

mlavender@sustainableagriculture.net 

Tel. 734.417.8710

Comment: NSAC Urges Senate to Support Grassley “Actively Engaged” Amendment

Washington, DC, June 30, 2025 –– The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) issued the following comment, attributable to Mike Lavender, NSAC Policy Director, in support of Amendment #2527 filed by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to include a meaningful and effective “actively engaged in farming” test to commodity program payments in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act. 

“Bipartisan consensus has long maintained that farm payments should be targeted to working farmers who need them, not non-farm investors, absent landholders, or recipients who act as pass-throughs. Senator Grassley’s amendment closes loopholes that perpetuate waste, fraud, and abuse; under current law, limitless individuals on any farm can receive annual commodity program payments up to $125,000, or double that limit for recipients with a spouse, including absent investors and distant family members who never step foot on the farm. This amendment applies reasonable work requirements as a condition of eligibility for taxpayer-funded farm program payments and limits the number of payments to one payment per farm. This simple solution is projected to save $5 billion. The amendment does not impact in any way the Adjusted Gross Income threshold that affects eligibility for conservation and disaster programs. It does apply to commodity programs, such as the Agricultural Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage Program (PLC), into which the OBBB injects an additional $67 billion. This amendment is key to targeting farm support to hard-working family farmers – not absent investors and corporate board members – while stewarding responsible taxpayer spending.” 

Language virtually identical to the Grassley amendment was approved in June 2018 when the Senate advanced the bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill. A similar “actively engaged” provision also passed in the House of Representatives that year. Despite this overwhelming bipartisan, bicameral support, the provision was stripped in conference, contrary to the rules.

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About the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition is a grassroots alliance that advocates for federal policy reform supporting the long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities. Learn more and get involved at: https://sustainableagriculture.net