WASHINGTON, DC—Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton welcomed Senate passage of legislation which she cosponsored that will amend the 2008 Farm Bill to strengthen the crop safety net. The bill suspends a provision of the Farm Bill that prohibited direct payments, counter-cyclical payments, or average crop revenue election payments if the sum of the base acres of a farm is 10 acres or less. A United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) interpretation of the 10-acre rule would have prohibited the consolidation of farms having base acreage of 10 acres or less, making such farms ineligible for subsidies.

In New York, 36 percent of farms—nearly 13,000—have a base acreage of 10 acres or less.

“The USDA’s interpretation of the 10-acre rule ignored the intent of the law and would have weakened the safety net that protects so many New York farmers. This legislation will help ensure that the Farm Bill protects farmers and growers and stops the administration’s attempts to strip away vital safeguards,” said Senator Clinton.

Senator Clinton has worked to ensure that the USDA’s interpretation of the 10-acre rule would not undermine the crop safety net. In August, she joined a bipartisan group of Senators in calling on Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer to abandon its interpretation of the rule.

###