Congressmen Tom O’Halleran and Ted Yoho introduced H.R. 2822, the Equip Ag Act of 2017. This bipartisan legislation creates a joint farm equipment sharing pilot program between the Department of Defense and new and beginning farmers with guidance from the Department of Agriculture.
“Investing in new and young farmers is critical for the future of our agriculture industry and rural economies across the country. This commonsense legislation brings down start-up and production costs that are often too burdensome for first-generation farmers,” said Rep. O’Halleran. “If we want to maintain our competitiveness in international agriculture trade, we must continue to find innovative solutions that attract new generations of farmers and set them up for success.”
“Never before has such a small number of Americans supplied so much too so many. With the percentage of people putting food on our tables getting smaller, more needs to be done to encourage a new generation to join the agricultural community,” said Rep. Yoho. “Leasing idle farm equipment is a commonsense approach to helping new farmers manage their startup costs, while alleviating the debt burden of new equipment.”