2018 Farm Bill Notes

Eligibility for Operators on Heirs Property Land to Obtain a Farm Number

Recognizing that farm operators on land that has been passed down through multiple generations without formal probate proceedings may not have clear title to the land, this part of the Farm Bill ensures that operators of such land, commonly referred to as heirs’ property, who provide certain documentation to USDA are eligible to receive farm numbers for the purpose of accessing programs offered by the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Risk Management Agency. Eligible documents are:

 In states that have adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act (Al,  AR, CT, GA, HI, MT, NV, NM, SC, TX) a court order verifying the land meets the definition of heirs’ property or certification form the local recorder of deeds that the recorded landowner is deceased and not less than one heir has initiated a procedure to retitle the land.

In 2018 (DC, KS, MS, TN and WV) introduced the bill.

A tenancy-in-common agreement that sets out ownership rights and responsibilities among all the landowners.

Tax return for proceeding five years

Self-certification that the farm operator has control of the land.

Any other documentation identified by the Secretary as an alternative form of eligible documentation.

The provisions also requires the Secretary to provide for assignment of a farm number to any farm operator who provides a form of eligibility documentation for purposes of demonstrating that the farm operator has control of the land for purpose of defining that land as a farm, and requires the Secretary to identify alternative forms of eligible forms of documentation that a farm operator may provide in seeking the assignment of a farm number.