USDA To Stop Handing Out Farm Subsidies To Anyone Not 'Actively Engaged' In Farming

The United States Department of Agriculture will soon stop providing farm subsidies for anyone who is not "actively engaged" in farming, a loophole which has allowed "wealthy executives, celebrities, and others to get subsidies even if they never set foot on a farm or don't need the taxpayer-funded assistance," simply by engaging in so-called general partnerships with actual farmers, reports Politico.

The new guidelines, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Politico, will require the organization to define exactly who qualities as a farmer, and give those rightful beneficiaries access to billions in farm subsidies.

"The reality is that this has been a loophole that has been utilized by folks in [business] partnerships to allow for many, many, many people to qualify as actively engaged [in farming] when in fact they might only be engaged in a conference call or in a very narrow sense participating in decision-making in a farming operation," said Vilsack. "We will close that loophole to the extent that we can."

Among those who currently receive farm subsidies include Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, according to an Environmental Working Group report.

"I think you'll probably see a lot of folks who in the past have been in an office in, say, a big city, who had an interest in a farming operation for tax purposes who will not be getting the benefits that they got before," Vilsack told Politico.