LRF/R is an acronym for
Limited Resource Farmer & Rancher.
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Questions or Help about the Limited Resource
Farming Tool, contact:
Robert Molleur,
National Small, Limited Resource, and Beginning Farmer and Rancher
Coordinator, 202-720-6521
Problems with the functionality of this site,
Please contact the
site Project Manager.
This site is provided by USDA, NRCS.
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Farm Bill Programs For Limited Resource Farmers
The 2008 Farm Act includes participation incentives and improved access to farm programs for beginning, limited-resource, and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Though not all Titles address the needs of all groups, provisions appear in Title I (Commodities), Title II (Conservation), Title V (Credit), Title VI (Rural Development), Title VII (Research), Title IX (Energy), Title XII (Crop Insurance), Title XIV (Miscellaneous), and Title XV (Trade and Tax Provisions).
Title I: Commodity Programs
Direct Payments and Counter-Cyclical
Payments.
Treatment of Farms With Limited Base Acres exempts
limited-resource and socially disadvantaged farmers and
ranchers from the base-acreage minimum for receiving
direct, counter-cyclical, or average crop revenue
election payments.
Title II: Conservation
Transfer of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Land.
Conservation Reserve Program facilitates transfer of CRP
land from a retiring farmer or rancher to a beginning or
socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher.
Funding and Acreage Set-Asides in Working Lands
Programs.
Conservation Access sets aside a portion of funds in
EQIP and acres in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and
ranchers.
Cost-Share Reimbursements in CSP.
Conservation Stewardship Program changes the method for
setting payments for all producers, and no longer
specifically provides for higher cost-share rates on new
practices applied by beginning and limited-resource
producers.
Priority for Loans and Guarantees.
Conservation Loan and Loan Guarantee Program gives
priority to beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and
ranchers who use loans to cover costs to carry out a
qualified conservation project.
Down Payment Loans.
Down Payment Loan Program adds socially disadvantaged
farmers and ranchers to the program, which previously
benefited only beginning farmers and ranchers, and adjusts
rates and terms of loans for all participants.
Priority for Buying USDA Farm Service Agency
Inventory Property.
Inventory Sales Preferences reestablishes socially
disadvantaged farmers and ranchers as a priority group,
along with beginning farmers and ranchers, for buying USDA
inventory property.
Loan Fund Set-Asides.
Loan Fund Set-Asides increases the percentage of loan
funds set aside for beginning farmers and ranchers.
Loans for Highly Fractionated Land.
Loans to Purchasers of Highly Fractioned Land allows for
loans to purchase highly fractionated land under the terms
of the Indian Land Consolidation Act.
Rural Cooperative Development Grants Set-Aside.
Existing Programs reserve 20 percent of grant funds for entities that serve
socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
Assistance with Transitioning to Bioenergy
Crops.
Biomass Crop Assistance Program includes participation
rates of beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers and
ranchers as a selection criteria for project areas.
Title XII: Crop Insurance
Risk Management Assistance.
Supplemental Agricultural Disaster Assistance (SADA)
waiver exempts beginning, socially disadvantaged, and
limited-resource farmers and ranchers from the minimum
risk-management purchase requirement to be eligible for
disaster assistance.
Accurate Documentation.
Accurate Documentation in the Census of Agriculture and
Certain Studies requires accurate documentation of socially
disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in the Census of
Agriculture and Economic Research Service studies.
Program Reporting.
Transparency and Accountability for socially
disadvantaged farmers or ranchers requires compilation and
reporting of data on participation of socially disadvantaged
farmers and ranchers in USDA programs.
Minority Farmer Advisory Committee.
Minority Farmer Advisory Committee requires
establishment of a committee with at least four socially
disadvantaged farmers or ranchers and other professionals
working with minority farmers and ranchers to advise the
Secretary on maximizing minority farmer and rancher
participation in USDA programs.
Pigford Claims.
Determination on Merits of Pigford Claims offers an
opportunity for a determination on the merits for certain
claims previously denied for late filing under the consent
decree in the Pigford v. Glickman class action case claiming
race discrimination in USDA farm lending programs.
Access to Programs.
Office of Advocacy and Outreach establishes an office to
improve program access for beginning, socially
disadvantaged, and small farmers and ranchers.