The Farm Service Agency in the U.S. Department of Agriculture has responded to news reports that detailed widespread farm losses among heirs whose land has been passed down without a will. The FSA will conduct listening sessions to seek ideas on how heirs can access USDA farm programs that are often blocked to them because they do not have a clear title to the land, ProPublica reports.
At two public two public meetings — on July 31 in Jackson, Miss., and Aug. 14 in Washington, D.C., — FSA will get input on ways the agency “can streamline and improve program delivery, as well as enhance outreach” of a program to help heirs qualify for USDA programs, ProPublica reports. The 2018 Farm Bill “included a re-lending program to help clear titles for heirs’ property owners and listed alternative routes for heirs’ property owners to qualify for certain USDA programs for farmers,” but the program was not funded, ProPublica and The New Yorker magazine revealed.
Following the story, Sens. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) urged USDA to implement property provisions for heirs outlined in the Farm Bill. They wrote, “The inability to participate in USDA programs has not only contributed to a startlingly negative trend in African-American land ownership but has also hindered African-American farmers and ranchers from experiencing economic equality.”
April Simpson of Stateline notes that the Farm Bill made it easier for heirs to put farmland back into production, with provisions for them to get an FSA farm number, "akin to a driver’s license for agriculture, which unlocks key programs and enables participation in local FSA elections.”
But heirs can't make full use of the provisions if a state has not enacted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. That, wrote Simpson, “gives co-owners the opportunity to buy out heirs who want to sell their share. . . . If a buyout doesn’t resolve the issue, a court may consider dividing the property between the owners or selling the property and dividing the proceeds equitably between the owners. . . . Open-market sales, rather than auctions, are preferred to ensure a higher sale price.”
At two public two public meetings — on July 31 in Jackson, Miss., and Aug. 14 in Washington, D.C., — FSA will get input on ways the agency “can streamline and improve program delivery, as well as enhance outreach” of a program to help heirs qualify for USDA programs, ProPublica reports. The 2018 Farm Bill “included a re-lending program to help clear titles for heirs’ property owners and listed alternative routes for heirs’ property owners to qualify for certain USDA programs for farmers,” but the program was not funded, ProPublica and The New Yorker magazine revealed.
Following the story, Sens. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) urged USDA to implement property provisions for heirs outlined in the Farm Bill. They wrote, “The inability to participate in USDA programs has not only contributed to a startlingly negative trend in African-American land ownership but has also hindered African-American farmers and ranchers from experiencing economic equality.”
April Simpson of Stateline notes that the Farm Bill made it easier for heirs to put farmland back into production, with provisions for them to get an FSA farm number, "akin to a driver’s license for agriculture, which unlocks key programs and enables participation in local FSA elections.”
But heirs can't make full use of the provisions if a state has not enacted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act. That, wrote Simpson, “gives co-owners the opportunity to buy out heirs who want to sell their share. . . . If a buyout doesn’t resolve the issue, a court may consider dividing the property between the owners or selling the property and dividing the proceeds equitably between the owners. . . . Open-market sales, rather than auctions, are preferred to ensure a higher sale price.”
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