House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson is co-sponsoring the Family Farm Relief Act of 2019. If passed, the legislation would ease the process of reorganizing debt through Chapter 12 bankruptcy rules. Iowa’s Chuck Grassley is sponsoring the companion bill in the Senate. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke says they support the measure and it is badly needed given the current depressed state of the ag economy.
He says up to this point Congress has failed to address the economic problems farmers and ranchers are up against.
Sombke says besides helping farmers and ranchers deal with their debt, Congress also needs to provide assistance to the smaller banks which provide loans to those producers.
The Family Farmer Relief Act expands the debt cap that can be covered under Chapter 12 bankruptcy from $3.2 million to $10 million. The American Farm Bureau Federation also backs the measure.
