Excerpt
THE Farm Debt Restructure and Conservation Set-Aside, authorized by Section 1318 of the Food Security Act of 1985, was an inspired idea. With $14 billion in delinquent farm loans, half of its loan portfolio, the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), which is the nation's agricultural lender of last resort, faced the prospect of becoming a farm forecloser of the first magnitude.
By authorizing an exchange of farm debt for conservation easements, Section 1318 offered to help FmHA's financially troubled borrowers while conserving important natural resources, the latter to justify the expense to taxpayers. As then FmHA Administrator Vance L. Clark put it in a letter (dated February 5, 1986) to the American Farmland Trust (AFT):
“We see some very positive aspects of Section 1318 as it will provide for the protection of fragile lands and wildlife, as well as reduce acreage which is presently contributing to the production of surplus commodities. It will also provide additional recreational areas for the public and it will allow farmers in financial difficulty an additional servicing tool for debt restructuring.”
But the program's legislative mandate turned out to be vague.
FmHA has lacked both the inclination and the imagination to administer it. The result has been the failure of the Farm Debt Restructure and Conservation Set-Aside to save a single farmer or to conserve any land. …
Footnotes
Edward Thompson, Jr., is general counsel for the American Farmland Trust, 1920 N Street, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20036. He is a member of the bars of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia and chairs the Montgomery County, Maryland, Agricultural Preservation Board.
- Copyright 1989 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.