May 21, 2013
Peanut quota holders voted overwhelmingly to support a class action lawsuit challenging portions of a new farm bill.
About 170 of the 600-member Peanut Quota Holders Association met at the Albany Civic Center and agreed to back the lawsuit.
The suit challenges the amount of compensation they would receive for their lost quota and the government's right to deprive them of the asset.
The new farm bill abolishes a depression-era quota system that maintained lofty prices for American peanuts.
Estimates for the value of peanut quota range from 75 cents to a $1.10 per pound. That's well above the 55 cents the government will pay under the new farm bill.
The bill was signed into law by President Bush last month.
It replaces the quota system with a base -- and that will determine each grower’s federal crop support payments.
