Ag Policy Blog

The House of Representatives has passed a bankruptcy bill that will better protect assets for farmers under Chapter 12 bankruptcy.

Under the bill, which passed the House in a voice vote on Thursday, farmers would be able to file for Chapter 12 bankruptcy if they have an asset limit of $10 million or less, which is a significant increase from the current limit of $4,153,150.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said the change would allow more farmers to remain in business.

“After several consecutive years of a trying farm economy, updating Chapter 12 bankruptcy eligibility to the current scale and credit needs of U.S. agriculture is a necessity. Today’s (Thursday's) action will ultimately help family farmers and ranchers avoid extremely difficult bankruptcy proceedings, giving them a better chance to get back on their feet and keep farming.

The effort for the bill was led by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., as well as Reps. Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y., Jim Sensenbrenner R-Wisc., TJ Cox, D-Calif., Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D. and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., Farm Bureau stated.

A comparable bill in the Senate has been introduced by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Correction: An earlier version incorrectly listed Rep. Delgado's political affiliation. I am sorry for the error.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

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